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THE ROYAL FAMILY IN THE 
TEMPLE PRISON 







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THE ROYAL FAMILY IN 
THE TEMPLE PRISON 

(Journal of the imprisonment ) 



BY 

/ 

Jean Baptiste Cant-Hanet, called Clery 



With a supplementary chapter on 

The Last Hours of Louis XVI 

By his confessor 
PAbbe Edgeworth de Firmont 



Translated from the French by 

E. Jules Meras 



STURGIS & WALTON 

COMPANY 

1909 









y 



Copyright, igo9 
By STURGIS & WALTON COMPANY 



Set up and electrotyped. Published September, 1909 



248895 



THE TEMPLE 

The history of the Temple several times 
sketched and notably by M. de Beauchesne, has 
been fully written by M. de Curson. 

To make Clery's narrative more clear, it suf- 
fices briefly to recall here the formation of the 
inclosure. 

It dated from the early days when the Templars 
came to settle in TIle-de-France towards the 
middle of the twelfth century. The wealth of 
this Order, the number of gifts it received and 
the acquisitions it made had permitted it to 
possess immense domains in the region north of 
Paris. More particularly a vast tract of land, 
of which the Order was the owner, was, owing to 
the privileges and immunities which it enjoyed, 
quickly populated. To protect this property and 
those who lived on it, the Templars erected the 
great Temple tower, a genuine feudal castle-keep, 
a square mass, secured by turrets with pointed 
roofs. 

When the Templars were suppressed, in 13 12, 
this portion of their property was assigned to the 
Order of Saint-Jean-de-Jerusalem, which later 



vi THE TEMPLE 

became the Knights of Malta. It was some time 
after, and probably towards the end of the six- 
teenth century, that the small tower was built. 
Placed side by side, the great tower was fifty 
meters high by nineteen wide; the small tower 
was only thirty-five meters high. 

These buildings, long used to keep the royal 
treasures since Philippe-Auguste, even inhabited 
by Philippe le Bel, were only returned to the Order 
in 1660. 

It is about this time that the great Prince of 
Malta entrusted to Mansard the work of erecting 
the sumptuous mansion which was to be used as 
a residence by his successors. In the eighteenth 
century, when the Prince de Conti had become 
grand prior of the Temple, he gathered about 
him there a celebrated company, made of the 
mansion a marvel of luxury and erected in the 
small tower a stage on which were presented the 
majority of the frivolous plays which the censors 
would have prohibited on any other stage. 

Such was the condition of the small tower when 
it was granted, in 1782, to the archivist of the 
Temple, M. Berthelemy, to be used as apartments 
for himself. Being a man of taste, he trans- 
formed them; furnished them with the greatest 



THE TEMPLE vii 

care. They included, downstairs, an office for 
his clerks and a kitchen ; on the first floor, a dining- 
room with a library in one of the turrets; on the 
second floor, an anteroom, a parlor, a sleeping 
room with a closet in the turret ; on the third floor, 
an anteroom, a large room, divers small closets, a 
kitchen; above, he contrived a belvedere. 

These were the various apartments first chosen 
to lodge the royal family. 

Suddenly dispossessed of the apartments and 
furniture which filled them, M. Berthelemy later 
made a number of claims and drew up divers 
papers which are still preserved in the national 
archives, and make it possible to reconstruct in an 
exact manner the new lodgings of the royal family. 
It is but just to make it known that only recently, 
thanks to documents in the hands of M. Berthe- 
lemy's heirs, M. Chanoine-d'Avranches has been 
able to write a most interesting paper wherein the 
smallest object used by Louis XVI, the queen 
and the Dauphin is described with the minutest 
care. 

Some have written of the royal family as in 
the most absolute destitution and only provided 
with second-hand furniture. In fact, this was 
not so. The apartment of M. Berthelemy, who 



viii THE TEMPLE 

was more of a poet than an archivist, was that of 
an epicurean who loved his comfort. The fur- 
nishings were numerous and very elegant. Only 
a few pieces had been hastily taken away by 
M. Berthelemy, on the 12th of August, when he 
received the order from the municipality to 
leave everything in good condition. Better still, 
M. Berthelemy had divers objects returned to the 
small tower and personally presided at the instal- 
lation of the royal family. That is to say, that 
the apartments remained the same as when 
M. Berthelemy occupied them. 

All the furniture, now become relics, was, dur- 
ing the first months of the year IV (1795), re- 
turned to M. Berthelemy, who sent it to one of 
his residences. . . . The greater part has re- 
mained the property of his descendants. 

It was on the 27th of September that the king 

was transferred to the great tower, on the second 

floor of which apartments had been prepared for 

him; on the 27th of October the queen and the 

other members of the royal family were taken 

there in their turn. In Clery's Journal will be 

found a quite . complete description of this new 

apartment. 1 . . . 

Translated from notes of M. Vitrac and A. Galopin. 
*The Temple was razed in 1811. 



CLERY 

Born in the midst of the park of Versailles, at 
Jardy-le-Vaucresson, Jean Baptiste Cant-Hanet, 
called Clery, after an estate belonging to his 
grandfather, was brought up in the care of 
Madame Guemenee, governess of the children of 
France. Appointed barber to the king in 1782, 
at twenty-four years of age, Clery was attached 
to the Due de Normandie from the date of the 
latter's birth. He had been married a few years 
before to Marie Elisabeth Duverger, musician of 
the king's chamber and of the concerts of the 
court, when the Revolution began. 

He was careful to record his life during the 
time between the 10th of August and the king's 
death. Imprisoned for a month in one of the 
Temple towers after the execution of Louis XVI, 
he was set free in March, 1793 with orders to 
leave Paris, and he settled at Juvisy with his fam- 
ily. Clery was arrested in September, 1793 and 
imprisoned at the prison of la Force, from which 
he was released on August 9, 1794. 

Employed for a time in the offices of the city 

ix 



x CLERY 

of Paris, he went to Strasburg in 1795 to meet 
Madame Royale, whose liberation had just been 
negotiated. He joined her a few leagues from 
Vienna and left immediately for Venice, sent on 
a mission to Louis XVIII. Appointed head valet, 
he died on the 27th of May, 1809, at the residence 
of the Comtesse de Rombeck, at Hetzing, where, 
from Vienna, he had been transported. 

Clery's Journal is that of a fervent royalist 

Translated from notes of M Vitrac and A. Gaiopin 



THE ROYAL FAMILY IN THE 
TEMPLE PRISON 



THE ROYAL FAMILY IN THE TEMPLE 

PRISON 

During five months I served the king and his 
august family in the Temple tower, and in spite 
of the municipal officials, who were their keepers, 
I nevertheless have been able, either in writing or 
by other means, to make note of the principal 
events which took place in the interior of that 
prison. 

In classifying these notes in the form of a jour- 
nal, my intention is rather to supply material to 
those who will later write the story of the tragic 
end of the unhappy Louis XVI, than to compose a 
memoir myself. 

Having been the only constant witness of the 
insulting treatment suffered by the king and his 
family, I alone can write of it and certify to the 
exact truth; 'I shall therefore be content with 
presenting the facts in all their details, with sim- 
plicity, without a single reflection and without 
partiality. 

Although in the service of the royal family since 
the year 1782, and, owing to this, a witness of the 

3 



4 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

most disastrous events during the course of the 
Revolution, it would be digressing to describe 
these; the majority of these events may be found 
narrated in various works. 

I shall therefore begin my journal from the 
ioth of August, 1792, the awful day on which a 
few men overthrew a throne which had existed for 
fourteen centuries, put their king in chains and 
cast France into an abyss of disaster. 

I was on duty to Monsieur le Dauphin on 
August ioth. 

From the morning of the 9th the public mind 
had been in a state of extreme agitation; crowds 
gathered throughout Paris and the Tuileries 
received positive information of the plans of the 
conspirators. 

The tocsin was to be rung throughout the city 
at midnight, and the Marseilles troops and the 
inhabitants of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine were to 
march at the signal and besiege the palace. 

Kept in the apartments of the young prince by 
my duties, I know but a part of what occurred out- 
side; I shall only relate the events witnessed by me 
during this day on which so many different things 
took place, even in the palace. 

On the evening of the 9th, at half-past eight 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 5 

o'clock, after having seen Monsieur le Dauphin 
retire, I left the Tuileries with the intention of 
getting an idea of public opinion. 

The courts of the palace were filled with about 
eight thousand national guards from different sec- 
tions, prepared to defend the king. 

I went to the Palais-Royal, the doors of which 
were all closed; national guards were there under 
arms, ready to march to the Tuileries to strengthen 
the battalions which had preceded them; but a 
turbulent crowd filled the neighboring streets, and 
its clamors rang out from all sides. 

I returned to the palace about eleven o'clock by 
way of the king's apartments. 

The members of his court and those of his 
household were gathered there in a state of 
uneasiness. 

I stepped into the apartments of Monsieur le 
Dauphin, from which I heard, a few moments 
after, the ringing of the tocsin an3 the beating of 
the general alarm in all the quarters of Paris. 

I remained in the salon until five o'clock in the 
morning with Madame de Saint-Brice, waiting 
woman to the young prince. 

At six o'clock, the king went clown to the 
courts of the palace, and reviewed the national 



6 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

guards and the Swiss regiments, which pledged 
themselves to defend him. 

The queen and the children followed the king. 

A few seditious cries were heard coming from 
the ranks: they were quickly drowned by the 
shout, a thousand times repeated, of "Long live 
the King! Long live the Nation!" 

The attack on the Tuileries did not then seem 
near at hand; I went out once more and walked 
along the quays as far as the Pont-Neuf. 

Everywhere I met groups of armed people 
whose evil intentions were not to be doubted ; they 
carried pikes, pitchforks, axes and pruning hooks. 

The Marseilles battalion was marching in the 
most perfect order with its cannon; it invited the 
people to follow it, "in order to help it," it said, 
"to overthrow the tyrant, and proclaim his fall to 
the National Assembly." 

I was but too certain of what was about to 
take place but, consulting my duty only, I went 
ahead of this battalion and immediately returned 
to the Tuileries. 

Through the garden gates opposite the Pont- 
Royal, a numerous body of national guards was 
leaving it in disorder. 

Grief was visible on the faces of the majority. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 7 

Some were saying: u This morning we pledged 
ourselves to defend our king and at the moment 
of his greatest danger, we abandon him." 

The others, who were on the side of the con- 
spirators, insulted their comrades and compelled 
them to walk away. 

Thus did the kindly disposed allow themselves 
to be dominated by the rebellious, and this culpable 
weakness, which until now had produced all the 
ills of the Revolution, was again the beginning of 
the horrors of this day. 

After many attempts to enter the palace, I was 
recognized by one of the doorkeepers and I suc- 
ceeded in entering. 

I at once went to the king's apartments and 
requested one of his men to inform His Majesty 
regarding all I had seen and heard. 

At seven o'clock our anxiety was increased by 
the cowardly act of several battalions which suc- 
cessively abandoned the Tuileries. 

Those of the national guards who remained at 
their posts — four or five hundred — showed as 
much fidelity as they did courage; they were indis- 
criminately placed with the Swiss in the interior 
of the palace, at the various stairways, and at all 
the exits. 



8 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

These soldiers had stayed up all night without 
food; and I hastened with others of the king's 
servants, to bring them bread and wine, while 
encouraging them not to abandon the royal family. 
It was then that the king gave the command of 
the interior of his palace to MM. Marshal de 
Mailly, the Duke du Chatelet, the Count de Puy- 
segur, Baron de Viomenil, Count d'Hervilly, the 
Marquis du Puyet, etc. 

The members of the Court and of the house- 
hold were distributed throughout the different 
rooms after having pledged themselves to defend 
the king to the very death. 

We numbered about three or four hundred, but 
our only weapons were swords and pistols. 

At eight o'clock the danger became more press- 
ing. The Legislative Assembly was holding its 
meetings in the Riding School buildings which 
opened on the Tuileries gardens: the king had 
sent several messages to it, advising it of the pre- 
dicament in which he found himself and inviting 
it to name a committee to assist him with its 
advice; although the preparations for the attack 
on the palace had been going on before its eyes, 
the Assembly had sent no reply. 

A few moments after, the Department of Paris 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 9 

and several municipal officials entered, at the head 
of whom was Roederer, at that time attorney 
general of the Syndic. 

Roederer, no doubt with the sanction of the 
conspirators, advised His Majesty to surrender 
himself and family to the Assembly; he assured 
the king that he could no longer depend on the 
national guard and that, if he remained in his 
palace, the Department nor the Municipality of 
Paris could any longer answer for his safety. The 
king was much moved; he returned to his room 
with the queen, the ministers and a few other per- 
sons, and he soon came out to go to the Assembly 
with his family. 

He was surrounded by a detachment of Swiss 
soldiers and national guards. 

Of all the members of the household, the 
Princess de Lamballe and the Marquise de 
Tourzel, governess of the children of France, 
alone were permitted to follow the royal family. 
Madame de Tourzel, so as to remain with the 
young prince, was compelled to leave her daughter, 
aged eighteen, at the Tuileries. 

It was then about nine o'clock. 

Compelled to remain in the apartments, I 
awaited with terror the outcome of the king's act; 



io THE ROYAL FAMILY 

I stood at the window which opens on the garden. 

A half hour had already elapsed since the royal 
family had entered the Assembly, when I saw on 
the terrace of the Feuillants four heads on the 
ends of pikes which were being carried toward the 
meeting place of the Legislative body. 

This, I believe, was the signal for the attack on 
the palace, for at the same moment a terrible noise 
of cannon and of muskets was heard. 

The palace was being riddled with cannon balls 
and bullets. 

The king being no longer there, every one 
sought his own safety; but every exit was closed 
and we were doomed to certain death. 

I rushed through the apartments: they and the 
staircases were already heaped with the dead; I 
resolved to jump to the terrace through one of the 
windows of the queen's apartments. 

I rapidly crossed the garden plot to reach the 
Pont-Tournant. 

A large body of Swiss soldiers which had pre- 
ceded me was rallying under the trees. 

Finding myself between two fires, I retraced my 
steps to go to the new terrace stairs, near the 
water's edge: I wanted to jump to the quay, but 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON n 

the ceaseless firing which came from the Pont- 
Royal prevented me. 

I advanced in the same direction towards the 
gate of the Dauphin's garden; there some of the 
Marseillais soldiers who had just massacred sev- 
eral of the Swiss, were plundering them. 

One of the Marseillais came to me, a bloody 
sword in his hand : 

u How, citizen," said he to me, "you are with- 
out weapons? Take this sword, help us to kill!" 

Another Marseillais took possession of it. 

I was in fact without weapons and dressed in a 
plain jacket; there was nothing about me to show 
that I belonged to the royal household or I should 
not have escaped. 

A few Swiss soldiers who were being pursued 
took refuge in a stable not far off; I myself hid 
there. These Swiss were soon slaughtered at my 
side. 

On hearing the cries of these unfortunate vic- 
tims, the master of the house, M. le Dreux, 
hastened forward; I took advantage of this 
moment to enter his house, and without knowing 
me M. le Dreux and his wife urged me to remain 
until the danger had passed. 

I had in my pocket a few letters and 9ome 



12 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

newspapers addressed to the Prince-Royal and an 
admission card to the Tuileries on which was 
written my name and the nature of my employ- 
ment; these papers could have betrayed me; I 
barely had time to throw them away. 

Just then an armed mob came to visit the house 
in order to make sure that there were no Swiss 
hidden in it. 

M. le Dreux told me to pretend to be working 
on some drawings which were on a large table. 

After a fruitless search, these men, whose 
hands were red with blood, stopped long enough 
to tell us coldly of their murders. 

I remained in this place of refuge from ten in 
the morning until four o'clock in the afternoon, 
having before my eyes the spectacle of the horrors 
which were being committed on the Place 
Louis XV. 

Some men were murdering, others beheaded 
the bodies ; women, forgetting their decency, muti- 
lated them and tore shreds of flesh which they 
carried in triumph. 

During this interval Madame de Rambaut, 
waiting woman to Monsieur le Dauphin, who had 
escaped the Tuileries massacre with the greatest 
difficulty, came to seek refuge in this house; by 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 13 

means of signs we urged one another to silence. 

The sons of our host, who at this moment 
returned from the National Assembly, informed 
us that the king, suspended from his functions, 
was being held, together with the members of the 
royal family, in the private box of the editor of 
the Logographe, and that it was impossible to 
approach his person. 

I then resolved to go and join my wife and my 
children at a country house five leagues from 
Paris, where I had been living for the past two 
years; but the gates were closed and I was not to 
forsake Madame de Rambaut. 

We agreed to take the Versailles road where 
she lived; the sons of our host accompanied us. 

We crossed the Louis XVI bridge, which was 
strewn with naked corpses, already putrefied in the 
great heat, and after many dangers we left Paris 
by way of an unguarded opening. 

In the plain of Grenelle, we met mounted peas- 
ants who shouted from afar while threatening us 
with their weapons, "Stop, or we kill you !" 

One of these, mistaking me for one of the king's 
guards, aimed at me and was about to fire when 
another proposed that we be taken to the munici- 
pality of Vaugirard. 



14 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

"There are already twenty others there," said 
he, "the killing will be larger." 

On reaching the municipality, our hosts were 
recognized; the mayor questioned me: 
, "Why, when the country is in danger, are you 
not at your post? Why do you leave Paris? 
This shows evil intentions." 

"Yes, yes," shouted the populace, "to prison 
with the aristocrats, to prison!" 

"It is precisely because I wished to go to my 
post that you have met me on the road to Ver- 
sailles, where I live; my post is there, as yours is 
here," I replied. 

They also questioned Madame de Rambaut; 
our hosts assured them that we were telling the 
truth, and we were given passports. 

I must thank Providence for not having been 
taken to the Vaugirard prison; two of the king's 
guards had just been imprisoned there who were 
later transferred to the prison of the Abbaye, 
where they were massacred on the 2d of Sep- 
tember following. 

From Vaugirard to Versailles, patrols of armed 
people stopped us every few moments to examine 
our passports. 

I accompanied Madame de Rambaut to the 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 15 

home of her relatives and immediately left to go 
to my family. 

The fall I had had in jumping from one of the 
windows of the Tuileries, the fatigue of a twelve- 
league trip, and my painful reflections on the 
deplorable events which had just taken place so 
overwhelmed me that I had a high fever. 

I remained in bed for three days but, impatient 
to know the king's fate, I mastered my illness 
and returned to Paris. 

On my arrival, on the evening of the 13th, I 
heard that the royal family, after having been 
kept at the Feuillants since the 10th, had just been 
taken to the Temple; that the king had made 
choice of M. de Chamilly, his first valet, to wait 
on him and that M. Hue, usher of the king's 
chamber, was to wait on the young prince. 

The Princess de Lamballe, the Marquise de 
Tourzel and Mademoiselle Pauline de Tourzel 
had accompanied the queen. 

Mesdames Thibaut, Bazire, Navarre and 
Saint-Brice, ladies in waiting, had followed the 
three princesses and the young prince. 

I then lost all hope of continuing my services 
with Monsieur le Dauphin and was about to return 
to the country, when, on the sixth day of the 



16 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

king's imprisonment, I was informed that during 
the night all the persons who were in the tower 
with the royal family had been removed, and that 
after being questioned by the Council of the Com- 
mune of Paris they had been taken to the prison 
of la Force, with the exception of M. Hue, who 
was returned to the Temple to wait on the king. 

Petion, the mayor of Paris, was requested to 
select two other persons. 

Hearing of this, I resolved to do my utmost 
to recover my position with the young prince. 

I presented myself at Petion's; he told me that 
owing to my being a member of the king's house- 
hold, my nomination would not be confirmed by 
the General Council of the Commune. I men- 
tioned M. Hue, who had just been sent to wait on 
the king by the same Council. 

He promised to indorse an application which 
I left with him, but I remarked that, first of all, it 
was necessary to advise the king of my request. 

Two days later he wrote to His Majesty as 
follows : 
"Sire: 

"The valet who has been attached to the 
Prince-Royal since his childhood, asks to be con- 
tinued in his service; as I believe that this propo- 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 17 

sition will be agreeable to you, I have granted his 
request, etc. — " 

His Majesty replied in writing that he accepted 
me for his son's service; and consequently I was 
taken to the Temple. 

I was searched, advice was given me as to how 
they meant that I should act and on the same day, 
August 26, at eight o'clock in the evening, I 
entered the tower. 

It would be difficult for me to describe the im- 
pression which the sight of this august and un- 
happy family made on me. 

The queen spoke to me, and after some re- 
marks full of kindness : "You will wait on my 
son," she added, "and you will consult with M. 
Hue as to what concerns us." 

I was so affected that I could hardly reply. 

During the supper, the queen and the princesses, 
who for a week had been without their ladies in 
waiting, asked me if I could comb their hair; I 
replied that I should do all that they might be 
pleased to have me do. 

A municipal officer came to me and told me in 
a loud voice to be more circumspect in my replies. 

I was frightened by this beginning. 

[ had no communication with the outside world 



18 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

during the first week which I spent in the Temple. 

It was M. Hue's duty to receive and to ask for 
the things required by the royal family; I served 
it indiscriminately and conjointly with him. 

My duties to the king were limited to combing 
his hair in the morning and rolling it up at night. 

I noticed that I was being- ceaselessly watched 
by the municipal officers; the slightest thing gave 
them umbrage, and I kept on my guard so as to 
avoid any imprudence which would surely have 
proved my undoing. 

On the 2d of September there was much un- 
easiness about the Temple. 

As was their custom, the king and his family 
went down into the garden to take a walk; a 
guard who was following the king said to one of 
his colleagues: 

"We have done wrong to consent to their tak- 
ing a walk this afternoon." 

That very morning I had noticed the anxiety 
of the guards ; they made the royal family return 
to its quarters quickly, but hardly had it reached 
the queen's room than two officers, who were on 
duty at the tower, entered, and one of these 
named Mathieu, an ex-monk, said to the king: 

"Sir, you are not aware of what is going on. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 19 

The country is in the greatest danger; the enemy 
has entered Champagne; the King of Prussia is 
marching on Chalons : you will be made to answer 
for all the harm which may result from this. We 
know that we, our wives, our children will perish ; 
but the people will be avenged; you will die before 
we do; however, it is yet time, and you can . . ." 

"I have done everything for the people," re- 
plied the king. "I have done nothing for which 
to reproach myself." 

This same Mathieu said to M. Hue: 

u The Council of the Commune has commanded 
me to place you under arrest." 

u Who?" inquired the king. 

'Tour valet." 

The king wished to know what crime was 
charged against him, but he was unable to get any 
information, which gave him some anxiety as to 
his fate, and he warmly recommended him to the 
two officials. 

In the presence of M. Hue the seals were 
placed on the door of the small room which he 
had occupied and he left at six o'clock in the 
evening, after having spent twenty days at the 
Temple. 

Before going out, Mathieu said to me: 



20 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

"Take care how you act; the same might hap- 
pen to you." 

The king called me a few moments after. He 
turned over to me some papers which M. Hue 
had returned to him and which contained items 
of expenses. 

The worried appearance of the officials, the 
clamors of the people around the tower, affected 
him sadly. 

When the king had retired he asked me to pass 
the night near him ; I placed a bed by the side of 
His Majesty's. 

On the 3d of September, while dressing the 
king, His Majesty asked me whether I had heard 
anything with regard to M. Hue and if I knew 
what was going on in Paris. 

I replied that during the night I had heard a 
guard say that the people were gathering about 
the prisons ; and that I would go and try to secure 
additional information. 

"Take care not to compromise yourself," said 
the king to me, "for we should then be left alone, 
and I fear that their intentions are to place strang- 
ers about us." 

At eleven o'clock in the morning the king and 
the royal family being assembled in the queen's 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 21 

room, a guard told me to go up to that of the 
king, where I found Manuel and a few members 
of the Commune. 

Manuel asked me what the king had said re- 
garding the arrest of M. Hue. I replied that 
His Majesty was worried about it. 

"Nothing will happen to him," said he, "but I 
have been requested to inform the king that he 
shall not return and that the Council will supply 
some one else in his place: you may so tell him." 

I begged him to dispense me of this duty, and 
added that the king wished to see him with re- 
gard to several things of which the royal family 
had the greatest need. 

It was with difficulty that I induced Manuel 
to go down to the room where the king then was; 
he informed him of the decree of the Council of 
the Commune concerning M. Hue, and notified 
him that some one else would be sent to replace 
him. 

"I thank you," replied the king; "I shall employ 
my son's valet and if the council refuses, I shall 
wait on myself; I am resolved in this matter." 

The king then spoke to him of the needs of his 
family as to linen and other clothes. 



22 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

Manuel said that he would inform the council 
and went away. 

I asked him while seeing him to the door if the 
uneasiness still continued; and his reply made me 
fear that the people might attack the Temple. 

"You have been appointed to a dangerous 
post," he added. "I exhort you to have courage." 

At one o'clock the king and his family expressed 
a wish to take a walk; this was refused. 

During the dinner the roll of drums was heard 
and soon the cries of the populace reached our 
ears. 

The royal family left the table and assembled 
in the queen's room. 

I went down to dine with Tison and his wife, 
who were employed in the service of the tower. 

We had hardly taken our seats when a head on 
the end of a pike appeared at the window. 

Tison's wife uttered a loud cry; the assassins 
believed that they had heard the queen's voice 
and the sound of the frantic laughter of the bar- 
barians reached us. 

With the idea that Her Majesty was still at 
table, they had so placed the victim that she could 
not help but see it. 

It was the head of the Princess de Lamballe; 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 23 

although bloody it was not disfigured, her blond 
curling hair waving about the pike. 

I immediately hastened to the king. 

Fear had so distorted my face that the queen 
noticed it; it was of the greatest importance to 
hide the cause of this from her; I only wished to 
inform the king or Madame Elisabeth, but the 
two officials were present. 

"Why do you not go and have your dinner?" 
said the queen to me. 

"Madame," I replied, "I am not well." 

At this moment another official entered the 
tower and whispered mysteriously to his col- 
leagues. 

The king asked if his family was in danger. 

"It is being rumored," replied they, "that you 
and your family are no longer in the tower; the 
populace asks that you show yourselves at the 
window, but we shall not allow it; the people must 
show more confidence in their magistrates." 

The cries from without were increasing, how- 
ever; insults to the queen could be distinctly heard. 

Still another official appeared, followed by four 
men appointed by the people to make sure that 
the royal family was in the tower. 

One of these men in the uniform of the national 



24 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

guard, wearing epaulets and armed with an im- 
mense sword, insisted that the prisoners show 
themselves at the window; the officials denied 
this request. 

This man addressed the queen in the coarsest 
tones and said: 

"They wish to hide Lamballe's head from you, 
which was brought to show you how the people 
avenge themselves on their tyrants; I advise you 
to show yourself, if you do not wish the people 
to come up here." 

At this threat the queen swooned: I rushed to 
her aid; Madame Elisabeth helped me to sit her 
in an armchair; her children burst into tears and 
strove to revive her by their caresses. 

This man did not go; the king said to him 
with firmness: 

"We expect everything, sir, but you might have 
dispensed telling this frightful news to the queen, " 

The man then went out with his comrades; 
their mission was accomplished. 

Having recovered her senses, the queen min- 
gled her tears with those of her children and went 
with the royal family into Madame Elisabeth's 
room, in which the clamors of the people were 
heard with less distinctness. 




Princess de Lamballe 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 25 

I remained in the queen's room for a moment 
and looking out of the window through the 
blinds, I saw for the second time the head of the 
Princess de Lamballe. 

The man who carried it had climbed on the 
ruins of the houses which were being torn down 
so as to isolate the tower; another man near 
him had the unfortunate princess's bleeding heart 
at the end of a sword. 

They wanted to break down the doors of the 
tower; an official named Daujon was addressing 
them and I could hear what he said very dis- 
tinctly. He was saying: 

"The head of Antoinette does not belong to 
you; the Departments have some rights. France 
has given these great culprits in the charge of the 
city of Paris; it is your duty to assist us in keeping 
them safely until national justice shall have 
avenged the people." 

It was only after an hour of resistance that he 
succeeded in sending them away. 

On the evening of the same day one of the 
guards told me that the populace had tried to 
enter with the committee, and to carry into the 
tower the naked and bloody body of the Princess 
de Lamballe, which had been dragged all the way 



26 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

from the prison of la Force to the Temple; but 
the officials, after having struggled against this 
populace, had prevented their entering by fasten- 
ing a tricolor ribbon across the main entrance; 
that they had vainly appealed for assistance to 
the Commune of Paris, to General Santerre and 
to the National Assembly to thwart intentions 
which were all but too plain, and that for six hours 
it was uncertain if the royal family would not be 
massacred. 

In reality, the faction was not yet all-powerful; 
the chiefs, though agreed on the regicide, were 
not so on the means of carrrying it out, and the 
Assembly wished, perhaps, that other hands should 
be the instrument of the conspirators. 

A rather remarkable circumstance is that, after 
his recital, the official made me pay forty-five cents, 
the cost of the tricolor ribbon. 

At eight o'clock in the evening all was quiet in 
the neighborhood of the tower, but the same quiet- 
ness was far from existing in Paris, where the 
massacres continued for four or five days. 

I had the opportunity, while undressing the 
king, to inform him of what I had seen and of the 
details I had heard. 

He asked me which of the officials had shown 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 27 

the greatest firmness in protecting the life of his 
family. I mentioned Daujon, who had halted the 
impetuosity of the people, although he was far 
from being in favor of His Majesty. 

This official only returned to the tower four 
months later; and the king, recalling his conduct, 
thanked him. 

The scenes of horror of which I have just spoken 
having been followed by a period of comparative 
tranquility, the royal family continued to lead the 
uniform life it had adopted on entering the 
Temple. 

So that one may the more easily follow its de- 
tails, I think it well to give a description of the 
little tower in which the king was then imprisoned. 

It was built against the great tower without any 
interior connection and formed a long square 
with a turret at each end; in one of these turrets 
there was a small staircase which began on the 
first floor and led to a balcony on the platform; 
in the other were small rooms which corresponded 
to each floor of the tower. 

The main building had four floors. 

On the first were an anteroom, a dining-room, 
and a room partly in the turret in which was 



28 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

a library of some twelve or fifteen hundred 
volumes. 

The second floor was divided in about the same 
way. 

The largest room served as a bed chamber for 
the queen and Monsieur le Dauphin; the other, 
separated from the first by a very dark anteroom, 
was occupied by Madame Royale and Madame 
Elisabeth. 

It was necessary to cross that room to enter the 
one which was partly in the turret; and this room, 
which served as a closet for all that section of the 
building, was used by the royal family, the mu- 
nicipal officials and the soldiers. 

The king lived on the third floor and slept in 
the large room. 

The turret room he used as a reading room. 

Near by was the kitchen, separated from the 
king's chamber by a small dark room in which 
had lived MM. de Chamilly and Hue and on 
whose door were the seals. 

The fourth floor was locked. 

There were kitchens on the ground floor, but 
these were not in use. 

The king usually arose at six o'clock in the 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 29 

morning; he shaved himself; I combed his hair 
and dressed him. 

He then stepped into his reading room. 

This room being very small, the guard remained 
in the bed chamber, the door open so that he could 
keep his eyes on the king. 

His Majesty knelt and prayed for five or six 
minutes and then read until nine o'clock. 

During this time, after having made up the 
room and prepared the table for breakfast, I went 
down to the queen's chamber: she never opened 
her door before I came so as to prevent the guard 
from entering. 

I dressed the hair of the young prince, I 
arranged the queen's attire and I went to perform 
the same service ^or Madame Royale and Ma- 
dame Elisabeth. 

It was while assisting them that I was able to 
inform the queen and the princesses of what I 
had heard. 

A sign informed them that I had something to 
say to them, and one of them conversed with the 
guard so as to divert his attention. 

At nine o'clock the queen, her children and 
Madame Elisabeth went up to the king's room 
for breakfast. After having waited on them, I 



30 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

made up the queen's chamber and that of the 
princesses; in this sort of work I was assisted by 
Tison and his wife. 

It was not alone to wait on the royal family that 
they had been placed in the tower; a more impor- 
tant role had been confided to them, that of noting 
what might escape the watchfulness of the mu- 
nicipal guards and to denounce the latter. 

Crimes to be committed were no doubt included 
in the plans of those who had selected them, for 
the Tison woman, who at that time seemed of 
rather gentle character, but who trembled in the 
presence of her husband, later became known for 
an infamous denunciation against the queen, and 
Tison, a former clerk in the customs' service, was a 
wicked and cruel old man incapable of a feeling of 
pity and a stranger to all sentiments of humanity. 

By the side of what was most virtuous on earth 
the conspirators had placed the vilest they could 
find. 

At ten o'clock the king and his family went 
down to the queen's chamber and spent the day 
there. 

He busied himself with the education of his son, 
made him recite passages from Corneille and 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 31 

Racine, gave him lessons in geography and taught 
him how to make maps. 

The precocious intelligence of the young prince 
responded perfectly to the tender efforts of the 
king. 

His memory was so good that on a map cov- 
ered with a sheet of paper he could point out the 
departments, the districts, the cities and the course 
of rivers: it was the new geography of France 
which the king showed him. 

The queen, on her side, attended to the educa- 
tion of her daughter, and these various lessons 
lasted until eleven o'clock. 

The rest of the morning was spent in sewing, 
knitting, or at work on tapestry. 

At noon the three princesses went to Madame 
Elisabeth's chamber to take off their morning 
dresses: no guard entered with them. 

At one o'clock, when the weather was fine, the 
royal family was allowed to go down to the 
garden; four municipal officials and a commander 
of the national guard accompanied them. 

As there were numerous workmen in the Temple 
employed in tearing down the houses and in build- 
ing new walls, the royal family were only allowed 
a part of the garden in which to walk; I also was 



32 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

permitted to walk with them, during which I 
played with the young prince at ball, quoits, run- 
ning or other games or exercises. 

At two o'clock I returned to the tower, where 
I served the dinner; and every day at the same 
time, Santerre, beer brewer and commander of the 
national guard of Paris, came to the Temple ac- 
companied by two aides-de-camp. 

He carefully visited the different rooms. 

Sometimes the king addressed him; the queen 
never. 

After the meal the family went to the queen's 
chamber. Usually their majesties played a game 
of piquet or backgammon. 

It was during that time that I dined. 

At four o'clock the king rested for a little while, 
the princesses around him, each with a book; the 
greatest silence prevailed while he slept. 

What a spectacle ! a king pursued by hatred 
and calumny, fallen from a throne to imprison- 
ment, but strengthened by his conscience and 
peacefully sleeping the sleep of the just! ... his 
wife, his children, his sister, gazing with respect 
on his august features, of which misfortune seemed 
to increase the serenity, and on which one could 
already read the joy which he enjoys to-day. . . . 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 33 

No! this spectacle will never be effaced from my 
memory. 

On the king's awakening, the conversation was 
resumed, the king making me sit by his side. 

I gave writing lessons to his son, in his presence; 
and at his request I copied examples from the 
works of Montesquieu and of other celebrated 
authors. 

After this lesson, I took the young prince to 
Madame Elisabeth's room where we played ball 
or battledore and shuttlecock. 

At the close of day the royal family would sit 
around a table; the queen would read aloud from 
story books or from some well-chosen works, selec- 
tions which might instruct as well as amuse the 
children, but in which unexpected similarities with 
her situation often presented themselves, giving 
rise to painful thoughts. 

Madame Elisabeth would read in her turn and 
this would last until eight o'clock. 

I would then serve the young prince's supper 
in Madame Elisabeth's room, in the presence of 
the royal family. The king enjoyed giving some 
sort of amusement to his children; he made them 
guess riddles taken from a collection of Mercures 
de France which he had found in the library. 
3 



34 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

After Monsieur le Dauphin's supper, I un- 
dressed him; it was the queen who heard his 
prayers; he recited a special one for Madame de 
Lamballe and in another he asked God to protect 
the life of the Marquise de Tourzel, his governess. 

When the guards were too near, the young 
prince, of his own accord, took the precaution to 
say these two last prayers in very low tones. 

I then made him step into the next room; and 
if I had something to tell the queen, I took ad- 
vantage of the opportunity. 

I informed her of the contents of the news- 
papers; no copies were allowed in the tower, but 
a crier, sent for that purpose, came every evening 
at seven o'clock, approached the wall on the side 
of the rotunda in the Temple enclosure, and 
called out several times, in brief, all that had taken 
place at the Assembly, at the Commune and in 
the army. 

It was in the king's study that I used to stand 
to listen and there in the silence I easily com- 
mitted what I heard to memory. 

At nine o'clock the king had supper. 

The queen and Madame Elisabeth took turns 
in staying with Monsieur le Dauphin during this 
meal: I brought them what they desired of the 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 35 

supper; this was another one of the moments in 
which I could speak to them in private. 

After supper the king would go up to the 
queen's room for a moment, shake hands with her 
and with his sister, and then withdraw to his room, 
where he read until midnight. 

The queen and the princesses locked themselves 
in their respective rooms. 

One of the guards remained in the small pas- 
sage which separated their rooms and spent the 
night there : the other followed His Majesty. 

I then placed my bed near the king's; but His 
Majesty did not go to bed until a new guard had 
come up, so as to know who he was, and if he 
happened to be unknown to him, I was requested 
to ask his name. 

The guards were relieved at eleven o'clock in 
the morning, five in the evening and at midnight. 

This daily routine lasted during the entire time 
that the king remained in the small tower; that is, 
until September 30. 

On the 4th of September, Petion's secretary 
came to the tower to bring to the king the sum of 
two thousand francs in assignats; he demanded a 
receipt from the king; His Majesty requested him 
to return to M. Hue the sum of five hundred and 



36 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

twenty-six francs which he had advanced for the 
king's service; he promised to do so. 

This sum of two thousand francs was the only 
amount ever paid to the king, although the Legis- 
lative Assembly had voted five hundred thousand 
francs towards His Majesty's expenses in the 
Temple tower, but doubtless before it had foreseen 
the real intentions of its chiefs or dared to asso- 
ciate itself with them. 

Two days after, Madame Elisabeth made me 
put together a few effects which had belonged to 
the Princess de Lamballe and which she had left 
in the tower when taken away from there. 

I made a package, which I sent with a letter to 
her first chambermaid. 

I have since learned that neither the package 
nor the letter ever reached her. 

At that time the character of the majority of 
the municipal guards selected for the Temple 
service showed the manner of men used for the 
revolution of August 10 and the massacres of 
September 2. 

A guard, named James, a master of English, 
followed the king into his reading room one day, 
and sat down at his side. 

The king told him in mild tones that his col- 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 37 

leagues always left him alone, that, the door being 
open, he could not escape his sight, but that the 
room was too small for two. 

James insisted in a harsh and vulgar manner; 
the king v/as compelled to give in ; he gave up his 
reading for that day, and returned to his room, 
where the official continued to torment him by the 
most tyrannical vigilance. 

One day, on arising, the king, mistaking the 
man on guard for the one who had been on duty 
the evening before, told him with solicitude that 
he regretted that they should have forgotten to 
relieve him; the guard replied with insults to the 
interest shown him by the king. 

"I come here," said he, "to watch your con- 
duct, and not to have you attend to mine," and 
approaching His Majesty with his hat on his 
head : "No one, and you less than another, has the 
right to meddle with it." 

He continued insolent during the rest of the 
day. 

I have since then been informed that his name 
was Meunier. 

Another guard, called le Clerc, a physician by 
profession, happened to be in the queen's room at 
the time that I was giving the young prince a 



38 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

writing lesson ; he took it upon himself to interrupt 
this work to expatiate on the republican education 
which should be given to Monsieur le Dauphin: 
he wanted to substitute the most revolutionary 
works for those that he then was reading. 

Still another was present while the queen was 
reading to her children from the history of France, 
about the connetable de Bourbon taking up arms 
against France; he claimed that the queen, by this 
example, wished to inspire in her son sentiments 
of revenge toward his country; and he made a 
formal denunciation to the Council. 

I informed the queen of this, and thereafter 
she selected her readings so that her intentions 
could not be questioned. 

One Simon, shoemaker and municipal official, 
was one of the six commissaries charged with the 
duty of inspecting the works and expenses of the 
Temple; but he was the only one who, on the pre- 
text of better performing his duties, did not leave 
the tower. 

This man never appeared in the presence of the 
royal family without affecting the coarsest in- 
solence; often, standing near enough to the king 
so that the latter could hear him, he would say: 

"Clery, ask Capet if he requires anything, so 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 39 

that I may not be put to the trouble of coming up 
again." 

I was compelled to reply: "He is in need of 
nothing." 

It is the same Simon who later was given charge 
of the younger Louis, and who, with cold-blooded 
cruelty, made this interesting child so miserable. 

In order to teach arithmetic to the young prince, 
I had a multiplication table made according to the 
queen's orders. 

An official charged that she was teaching her 
son to speak by means of figures; and we had to 
give up the lessons in arithmetic. The same thing 
occurred with regard to some tapestries at which 
the queen and the princesses worked during the 
early days of their imprisonment. 

Some chairbacks being finished, the queen com- 
manded me to send them to the Duchess de Serent; 
the officials whose permission I asked thought that 
the designs represented hieroglyphics and were 
intended as a means of correspondence with the 
outside ; consequently they issued a decree by which 
it was forbidden to allow any work by the prin- 
cesses to leave the tower. 

Some of the commissaries never spoke of the 



4 o THE ROYAL FAMILY 

king, the young prince and the princesses without 
adding to their names some offensive epithets. 

One official, named Turlot, said one day in my 
presence: "If the executioner would not guillotine 
this d- d family, I would do it myself." 

The king and his family, on going out for their 
walk, had to pass in front of many sentinels, sev- 
eral of whom, even at that time, were stationed 
in the small tower. 

The sentries presented arms to the officials and 
army chiefs, but when the king came near them, 
they set down or reversed their weapons with 
affectation. 

One of the inside guards wrote on the king's 
door one day, and on the inside of it: "The 
guillotine is permanent and awaits the tryant 
Louis XVI." 

The king read these words ; I advanced to erase 
them; His Majesty objected. 

One of the doorkeepers of the tower, named 
Rocher, a man of frightful face, with long mous- 
taches, dressed in a military uniform and with 
a hairy helmet on his head, and who wore a large 
sword and belt to which hung a bunch of large 
keys, presented himself at the door at the moment 
His Majesty reached it, and on pretext of choos- 




LOUIS XVI 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 41 

ing among this large number of keys which he 
rattled with a fearful noise, he made the royal 
family wait, finally drawing the bolts with a crash. 

He then quickly descended the stairs and posted 
himself at the last door, a long pipe in his mouth, 
and as each royal personage went out, he blew 
the tobacco smoke, especially in the presence of 
the princesses. 

A few national guards, who enjoyed these 
insults, gathered near him, laughing noisily at each 
puff of smoke and indulging in the most vulgar 
remarks; a few of these, the better to enjoy the 
spectacle, even went so far as to bring chairs from 
the guardhouse, and sat there obstructing the very 
narrow passageway. 

During the walk, the gunners assembled to 
dance and they sang songs which were always of 
a revolutionary, and sometimes of an obscene 
character. 

On their way back to the rooms in the tower, the 
royal family would again endure the same abuse;' 
often the walls were covered with the most in- 
decent expressions, written in letters so large that 
they could not help but notice them. 

Once there was a gallows drawn on the wall 
from which a figure swung, under whose feet was 



42 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

written: "Louis taking an air bath"; another time, 
the guillotine replaced the gallows with some other 
offensive inscription. 

Thus was the short walk granted to the royal 
family changed into a torture. 

The king and queen could have avoided this by 
remaining in the tower, but their children, who 
were the object of their most tender solicitude, 
needed air; it was on their account that Their 
Majesties endured these numerous outrages. 

However, some tokens of faithfulness and feel- 
ing were shown at times and softened the horrors 
of this persecution; and these tokens were the 
more noticeable as they were most rare. 

A sentry was on guard at the door of the 
queen's chamber ; he was from the suburbs, dressed 
neatly although in peasant's clothes. 

I was alone in the first room, busy reading; he 
was looking attentively at me and seemed much 
affected; I walked in front of him; he presented 
arms to me, and said in a trembling voice : 

"You cannot go out." 

"Why?" 

"My instructions are to keep my eyes on you." 

"You are mistaken," said I. 

"What! Sir, you are not the king?" 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 43 

"You do not know him, then?" 

"I have never seen him, sir, and I would much 
like to see him elsewhere than here." 

"Do not speak so loud; I am going to enter that 
room; I shall leave the door open, and you will 
see the king; he is seated near the window with 
a book in his hand." 

I imparted the sentinel's wish to the queen, and 
the king, being informed of it by her, was good 
enough to walk from one room to the other so as 
to pass in front of him. 

I again approached the sentinel. 

"Ah! sir," said he to me, "how good the king 
is; how he loves his children." 

He was so affected that he could scarcely speak. 

"No," he continued, while beating his breast, 
"I cannot believe that he has done us so much 
injury as is reported." 

Fearing that he might be compromised by his 
extreme agitation, I left him. 

Another sentry stationed at the end of the alley 
which was used as a walk, a youth with an interest- 
ing face, expressed by his glances his desire to 
impart some information to the royal family. 

Madame Elisabeth, while walking, approached 
him, to see if he would speak to her; either 



44 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

through fear or respect he dared not; but tears 
came to his eyes and he made a sign to indicate 
that he had hidden some paper in a pile of build- 
ing stones. 

I began to search, pretending to look for quoits 
for the young prince, but the municipal officials 
made me withdraw and forbade me henceforth to 
approach the sentries. 

I was never able to learn the intentions of this 
young man. 

This walking hour also caused the royal family 
to behold sights which affected them deeply. 

A great number of faithful subjects daily took 
advantage of this short instant to see their queen 
and king, by standing at the windows of the 
houses situated around the Temple garden, and it 
was impossible to mistake their sentiments or 
wishes. 

Once I thought I recognized the Marquise de 
Tourzel, and what led me to believe this was the 
extreme attention with which she watched all the 
movements of the young prince whenever he 
strayed from the side of his august parents. 

I told Madame Elisabeth of this. 

At the name of Madame de Tourzel, this prin- 
cess, who believed her one of the victims of the 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 45 

2d of September, was unable to restrain her tears. 

"What!" said she, "is it possible that she still 
lives !" 

The next day I found means of securing in- 
formation; the Marquise de Tourzel was living 
on one of her estates. 

I learned also that the Princess de Tarente and 
the Marquise de la Roche-Aimon, who on the 
ioth of August at the time of the attack, hap- 
pened to be in the Tuileries, had been able to 
escape assassination. 

The safety of these persons whose devotion had 
manifested itself on so many occasions, gave a few 
moments of consolation to the royal family, but it 
soon heard the awful news that the prisoners of 
the high court of Orleans had been massacred on 
the 9th of September, at Versailles. 

The king was overwhelmed with grief at the 
unhappy end of the Duke de Brissac, who had not 
left him for a single day since the beginning of the 
Revolution. 

His Majesty also much regretted M. de Lessart 
and the other interesting victims of their attach- 
ment to his person and to their country. 

On the 2 1 st of September, at four o'clock in the 
afternoon, Lubin, a municipal official, surrounded 



46 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

by mounted gendarmes and a numerous mob, came 
to read a proclamation in front of the tower. 

The trumpets blew and then great silence 
prevailed. 

This Lubin had a stentorian voice. 

The royal family was able to hear distinctly the 
proclamation abolishing royalty and establishing a 
republic. 

Hebert, so well known under the name of 
Father Duchesne, and Destournelles, who since has 
been commissioner of taxes, were on guard near 
the royal family; at that moment they were seated 
near the door and were looking at the king with 
perfidious smiles. The king noticed it; he held a 
book in his hand, and he continued his reading; no 
change appeared in his face. 

The queen showed the same firm attitude; not 
a word, not a motion which could increase the 
enjoyment of these two men. 

The proclamation being ended, the trumpets 
again rang out; I went to one of the windows; 
immediately the eyes of the mob were turned 
toward me. I was taken for Louis XVI; I was 
overwhelmed with abuse. 

The gendarmes made threatening signs to me 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 47 

with their swords and I was obliged to withdraw 
from the window. The tumult then ceased. 

That same evening I told the king that his son 
required curtains and covers for his bed; the cold 
weather was setting in. 

The king told me to write out an order for these 
things and signed it. I had made out the order, 
using the same form I had used until then: "The 
king demands for his son," etc. 

"You are very daring," said Destournelles to 
me, "to make use of a title abolished by the will 
of the people, as you have just heard." 

I answered him that I had heard a proclama- 
tion, but did not know what it was about. 

"It is," said he to me, "the abolition of royalty, 
and you may tell monsieur" pointing to the king, 
"to take another title." 

"I cannot change this order which is already 
signed," replied I; "the king would ask for a 
reason, and it is not for me to inform him." 

"You may do as you please," he retorted, "but 
I shall not indorse your order." 

The next day Madame Elisabeth ordered that 
when writing about such matters I should use the 
following form: "Required for the use of Louis 
XVI. . .of Marie- Antoinette . . .of Louis-Charles 



48 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

... of Marie-Therese ... of Marie-Elisabeth, etc." 

Until then I had often been compelled to repeat 
these orders. 

The small amount of linen which the king and 
queen had, had been loaned to them by members 
of the court, while they had remained at the 
Feuillants. 

None could be secured at the Tuileries, where, 
on the ioth of August, all had been given up to 
plunder. 

Specially did the royal family lack clothes; the 
princesses mended them every day and often, to 
mend those of the king, Madame Elisabeth was 
obliged to wait until he had retired; after much 
pleading, however, I succeeded in having some 
new linens made for them; but the seamstresses 
marked them with letters surmounted by a crown, 
and the officials ordered that the princesses take 
these crowns off; they had to obey. 

On the 26th of September I heard through a 
guard that it was proposed to separate the king 
from his family, and that the apartment in the 
great tower which was intended for him would 
soon be ready. 

It was with the greatest precaution that I an- 
nounced this new cruelty to the king; I told him 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 49 

how much it cost me to be the messenger of this 
sad news. 

"You can give me no greater evidence of your 
attachment," he replied. "I demand of you to 
hide nothing from me; I am ready for anything; 
try to ascertain the date of this painful parting 
and let me know." 

On the 29th of September, at ten o'clock in the 
morning, five or six officials entered the queen's 
chamber where the royal family was gathered. 
One of these, named Charbonnier, read to the 
king a resolution of the Council of the Commune 
which ordered : 

"To take away paper, ink, pens, pencils, and 
even written papers, both from the persons of the 
prisoners and from their rooms, also from the 
valet or other servants employed in the tower." 

"And when you require anything," he added, 
Clery can go downstairs and write your needs on 
a register which will remain in the Council room." 

The king and his family, without making the 
slightest remark, looked through their respective 
clothes and turned over their papers, pencils, 
pocket dressing-cases, etc. The commissaries then 
inspected the rooms and the closets and carried 
away all objects mentioned in the decree. 
4 



50 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

I then heard from one of the members of the 
committee that the king would be transferred to 
the large tower; I found means of acquainting His 
Majesty and Madame Elisabeth of this. 

Indeed, after supper, as the king was leaving 
the queen's room to return to his own, a guard told 
him to wait, the Council having something to im- 
part to him. 

A quarter of an hour after, the six officials who 
in the morning had carried away the papers, 
entered, and read a new decree from the Com- 
mune which ordered his transfer to the large 
tower. 

Although already aware of this, the king was 
again much moved by hearing it; his disconsolate 
family tried to read in the eyes of the committee 
the full meaning of this order ; and it was with the 
saddest forebodings that they said farewell to the 
king. This separation, which already announced 
so many other sorrows, was one of the most cruel 
moments Their Majesties had yet passed in the 
Temple. 

I followed the king to his new prison. 

The king's apartment in the large tower was not 
finished ; there was but one bed and no other furni- 
ture; the painters and paperhangers were still 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 51 

working at it. The odor of paint and paste was 
unbearable, and I feared that His Majesty would 
be made ill by it. 

It was intended to give me a room very far from 
that of the king; I earnestly insisted to be allowed 
to occupy a nearer one. 

I spent the first night on a chair near His 
Majesty; it took some days and some trouble on 
the part of the king to have them give me a room 
next to his. 

After the king had risen the next morning, I 
wished to go to the small tower to dress the young 
prince; the guards refused permission. 

One of these, named Veron, said to me : 

"You will have no more intercourse with the 
other prisoners, nor will your master; he is not 
even to see his children again." 

At nine o'clock the king requested that he be 
taken to his family. 

"We have received no such order," said the 
guards. 

His Majesty made some remarks; they did not 
reply. 

A half hour after, two officials entered followed 
by a waiter who was bringing a piece of bread and 
a bottle of lemonade for the king's breakfast. 



52 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

The king expressed the desire to dine with his 
family; they replied that they would take their 
orders from the Commune. 

"But," ordered the king, "my valet can go 
downstairs. It is he who has charge of my son, 
and there is nothing to prevent his continuing to 
serve him." 

"We have no authority in the matter," said the 
officials, and they withdrew. 

I was at that time in a corner of the room, over- 
whelmed with grief and possessed by the bitterest 
thoughts relating to the fate of this august family. 

On the one side I saw the sufferings of my mas- 
ter; on the other, I pictured to myself the young 
prince turned over to other hands. 

Mention had already been made of separating 
him from Their Majesties; what new sorrows and 
sufferings would this not cause the queen! 

I was deep in these gloomy reflections when the 
king came to me, holding in his hand the bread 
which had been brought to him; he offered me 
half, and said: 

"It seems that they have forgotten your break- 
fast; take this, I have enough with the remainder." 

I refused, but he insisted; I was unable to re- 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 53 

strain my tears. The king perceived this and 
allowed his own to flow. 

At ten o'clock other officials brought workmen 
to continue the work in the apartment. 

One of these officials told the king that he had 
seen his family at breakfast and that they were in 
good health. 

"I thank you," replied the king, "I beg you to 
remember me to them, and tell them that I am 
well." 

"Could I not," he added, "have the few books 
which I left in the queen's room? You would 
please me very much by sending them to me, for 
I have nothing to read." 

His Majesty mentioned the names of the books 
which he wished; the official granted the king's 
request, but not knowing how to read, he sug- 
gested that I accompany him. 

I congratulated myself on the ignorance of this 
man and I thanked Providence for having pro- 
cured me this moment of consolation. 

The king gave me a few orders; his eyes told 
me the rest. 

I found the queen in her room, surrounded by 
her children and Madame Elisabeth; they were all 
weeping and at sight of me their grief increased; 



54 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

they asked me a thousand questions to which I 
could only reply with reserve. 

The queen, addressing the officials who had 
accompanied me, repeated her entreaties for per- 
mission to be with the king, at least for some 
moments each day and at meal hours. Her re- 
quest was neither a complaint nor tears; it was 
a cry of anguish and pain. 

"Well! they shall dine together to-day," said 
an official, "but as our conduct is dependent on the 
orders of the Commune, to-morrow we shall do 
what it prescribes." 

His colleagues consented to this. 

At the sole thought of again being with the 
king, a feeling which was almost akin to joy came 
to relieve the unhappy family. 

The queen, holding her children in her arms, 
Madame Elisabeth, her hands raised to heaven, 
thanking God for this unexpected happiness, pre- 
sented the most touching spectacle. 

A few officials were unable to hold back their 
tears (these are the only ones I saw them shed in 
this awful prison). 

One of these, Simon, the shoemaker, said loud 
enough so as to be heard : 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 55 

"I believe that these d d women could make 

me weep." And turning to the queen: 

"When you were murdering the people on the 
10th of August you were not weeping." 

"The people are much mistaken as to our senti- 
ments," replied the queen. 

I then took the books for which the king had 
asked and brought them to him. 

The officials entered with me to announce to 
His Majesty that he could see his family. 

I told these men that I presumed that I could 
continue to wait on the young prince and prin- 
cesses; they consented to this. 

I thus had the opportunity to inform the queen 
of what had passed and all that the king had 
suffered since he had left her. 

Dinner was served in the king's apartment 
where the family went, and by the sentiments to 
which they gave vent one could judge of the fear 
which had agitated them. 

Nothing further was heard of the Commune's 
order, and the royal family continued to meet at 
meal hours and for the walk. 

After dinner the queen was shown the apart- 
ment which was being prepared for her above that 
of the king; she urged the workmen to finish the 



56 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

work quickly, but their labor was only completed 
at the end of three weeks. 

During this time I continued to serve both Their 
Majesties and the young prince and princesses; 
their daily life did not vary very much. 

The attention which the king gave to the edu- 
cation of his son suffered no interruption, but this 
imprisonment of the royal family in two separate 
towers, while rendering the guards' watch more 
difficult, rendered it more restless. 

The number of guards was increased, and their 
distrust left me but few means of securing in- 
formation as to what was transpiring outside. 

The following are those of which I made use : 

On the pretext of having linen and other neces- 
sary things brought to me, I obtained premission 
that my wife come to the Temple once a week; she 
was always accompanied by a lady friend who was 
supposed to be a relative. 

No one has shown greater attachment to the 
royal family than this lady, by what she did and 
the risks which she ran on several occasions. 

On their arrival I was called down to the Coun- 
cil Chamber, but I was allowed to speak to them 
only in the presence of the officials; we were care- 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 57 

fully watched and the first visits did not realize 
my expectations. 

I then made them understand to come only at 
one o'clock in the afternoon; it was the walking 
hour during which the majority of the guards 
followed the royal family; but one remained in 
the Council Chamber, and when he happened to 
be a good man, he granted us a little more free- 
dom, without however losing sight of us. 

Thus being able to speak without being heard, 
I asked them news of those in whom the royal 
family was interested, and I inquired as to what 
was going on in the Convention. 

It was my wife who had hired the crier, of 
whom I have already spoken, to come to the Tem- 
ple walls daily, and cry out the summary of the 
newspapers. 

I added to this knowledge what I could learn 
from the guards, and especially from a very faith- 
ful servant, named Turgy, a waiter to the king, 
and who, through attachment for His Majesty, 
had found means of securing a place in the Tem- 
ple with two of his comrades, Marchand and 
Chretien. 

They brought to the tower the meals of the 
royal family, which were prepared in a distant 



58 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

kitchen; besides that, they had charge of the pur- 
chase of supplies, and Turgy, who shared this 
duty with them, going out of the Temple, in his 
turn, two or three times a week, could secure 
information of what was going on. 

The difficulty was to impart to me what he had 
heard. He had been forbidden to speak to me, 
except with regard to the royal family's service, 
and always in the presence of guards; when he 
wished to say something to me, he made me a sign 
upon which we were agreed, and I sought an 
opportunity to talk with him on different pretexts. 

Sometimes I requested him to dress my hair. 

Madame Elisabeth, who knew of my connection 
with Turgy, would then engage in a conversation 
with the guards; we thus had the necessary time 
for our talks. 

At other times I gave him the opportunity to 
enter my room; he took advantage of this by plac- 
ing under my bed the newspapers, notes or printed 
matter which he had for me. 

When the king or queen wished to be enlight- 
ened as to some outside events, and my wife's 
visiting day was distant, I had Turgy attend to the 
matter; if it were not his day out, I pretended to 
require something for the royal family. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 59 



IITV 



'I'll get it some other day," he would say. 

"Oh, well! the king can wait," I would reply 
with an air of indifference. 

In speaking in this manner, I wished to induce 
the officials to give him orders to go out. They 
often did, and the same evening or next day he 
gave me the details I wished. 

We were agreed on this method and understood 
one another, but we were obliged to take care not 
to use the same means twice before the same 
guards. 

There were numerous obstacles to delay the 
imparting of my knowledge to the king. In the 
evening I could speak to His Majesty only at the 
moment when the guards were being relieved or 
at bedtime. 

Sometimes I was able to say a word to him in 
the morning, when his keepers were not yet in a 
condition to appear before him. I pretended not 
to wish to enter before them, but made them un- 
derstand that His Majesty awaited me. 

If they allowed me to enter, I immediately drew 
the curtains of the king's bed, and while I assisted 
him to dress, I spoke to him without being seen or 
heard. 

More often, however, my hopes were deceived 



6o THE ROYAL FAMILY 

and the guards forced me to wait until they were 
dressed, so as to accompany me to the king's 
chamber. 

Several of these guards even treated me roughly; 
some, in the morning, ordering me to take up their 
folding beds, and in the evening compelling me 
to replace them; others always spoke to me in an 
abusive manner; but this conduct furnished me 
with new means of being useful to His Majesty. 

By opposing kindness and politeness to the 
insults of these officials, I won them in spite of 
themselves; I inspired them with confidence with- 
out their noticing it, and I succeeded in learning 
from them what I wished to know. 

Such was the system which I had been carefully 
following since I was in the Temple, when an 
event as strange as it was unexpected made me 
fear that I might be forever separated from the 
royal family. 

One evening about six o'clock (it was the 5th 
of October), after having accompanied the queen 
to her apartment, I was returning to the king's 
chamber with two municipal officers when the 
sentry standing at the door of the large guard 
room, seized me by the arm and addressing me 
by name, asked me how I was and added with a 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 61 

mysterious air that he would like to have a talk 
with me. 

"Sir," I replied to him, "speak aloud; I am not 
allowed to whisper to any one." 

"I have been assured," continued the sentry, 
"that the king has been in the dungeon for some 
days past and that you were with him." 

"You see that it is not so," I said, and left him. 

At that time one of the officers was walking in 
front while the other followed; the first one 
stopped and heard us. 

The next morning two guards were awaiting me 
at the door of the queen's apartment; they led me 
to the Council Chamber where the officials, who 
had assembled there, questioned me. 

I repeated the conversation as it had taken 
place; the officer who had heard us confirmed my 
statement. 

The other maintained that the sentry had 
handed me a paper whose rustling he had heard, 
and that it was a letter for the king. 

I denied this and invited the officials to search 
me and to make inquiry. 

A report of the meeting of the Council was 
drawn up. I was confronted with the sentry, 



62 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

who was condemned to twenty-four hours' impris- 
onment. 

I thought this matter settled when, on the 
26th of October, while the royal family was at 
dinner, an official entered, followed by six gen- 
darmes, sword in hand, and a court clerk and 
sheriff's officer, both in uniform. 

I thought that they had come for the king and 
I was seized with terror. 

The royal family arose; the king asked what 
was wanted of him; but the official, without 
answering, called me into another room; the 
gendarmes followed him; and the clerk having 
read a warrant, I was placed under arrest to be 
arraigned before the Tribunal. 

I asked for permission to notify the king; I was 
told that from that moment I was no longer per- 
mitted to speak to him. 

"Take but one shirt," added the official, "your 
case will soon be settled." 

I took only my hat. 

I passed near the king and his family, who were 
standing struck with consternation at the manner 
of my being taken away. 

The populace assembled in the Temple court 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 63 

overwhelmed me with insults while calling for my 
head. 

An officer of the national guard replied that it 
was necessary to preserve my life until I had 
revealed the secrets of which I was the sole pos- 
sessor, and the same cries were heard on my way. 

Hardly had I reached the Palais de Justice when 
I was placed in solitary confinement. I remained 
there six hours, trying, but in vain, to discover the 
reason of my arrest. 

I recalled only that during the morning of 
August 10, during the attack in the Tuileries, some 
persons who happened to be inside and who sought 
to get out, had requested me to hide in a bureau 
of mine some precious objects, and even papers, 
which could have made their identity known; I 
thought that these papers had been seized and 
that perhaps they might be the cause of my death. 

At eight o'clock I appeared before the judges, 
who were unknown to me. 

It was a revolutionary tribunal instituted on the 
17th of August to make a selection among those 
who had escaped the people's fury and put them 
to death. 

How great was my surprise when I saw in the 
seat for the accused the same young man who was 



64 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

suspected of having handed me a letter some three 
weeks before, and when I recognized in my accuser 
the municipal officer who had denounced me to 
the Temple Council. 

I was questioned; witnesses were heard. 

The officer repeated his charges; I replied that 
he was unworthy of a public office; that since he 
had heard the rustling of a paper and thought he 
had seen a letter handed to me, he should have 
searched me on the spot instead of waiting eighteen 
hours to denounce me to the Temple Council. 
After the pleadings, the jury deliberated, and on 
their decision we were acquitted. 

The president instructed four guards who were 
present at the trial to take me back to the Temple; 
it was exactly midnight. 

I reached the prison just as the king had gone 
to bed I was allowed to announce my return to 
him. 

The royal family had taken the liveliest interest 
in my fate, and believed me already convicted. 

It was about this time that the queen was lodged 
in the apartment which had been prepared for her 
in the large tower; but this eagerly wished-for day, 
which promised some little consolation to Their 




MARIE ANTOINETTE 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 65 

Majesties, was marked on the part of the officials 
by a new act of cruelty toward the queen. 

Since her entrance in the Temple, they saw her 
devote her existence to the care of her son and 
find some mitigation to her ills in his gratitude 
and his caresses. They separated her from him 
without notice; her grief was extreme. 

The young prince having been turned over to 
the king, I was entrusted with the duty of waiting 
on him. 

It was with the greatest emotion that the queen 
entreated me to watch over the life of her son. 

The events of which I shall hereafter have to 
speak, having taken place in quarters different 
from those of which I have given a description, I 
think it well to make known the new apartments 
of Their Majesties. 

The great tower is about one hundred and fifty 
feet high and is divided into four stories. 

The inside is in the neighborhood of thirty-five 
feet square. 

The second and third stories intended for the 
royal family, being but one single loft, were 
divided into four rooms by board partitions. 

The ground floor was used by the officials; the 

5 



66 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

first story served as a guard room; the king was 
given the second. 

The first room of his apartment was an ante- 
chamber where three different doors led to the 
other rooms. 

Facing the entrance was the king's chamber, in 
which Monsieur le Dauphin's bed was placed; 
mine was on the left, as was also the dining room, 
which was separated from the antechamber by a 
glass partition. 

There was a chimney in the king's room; a 
large stove standing in the antechamber heated 
the other rooms. 

Each one of these rooms was lighted by a win- 
dow, but outside of these heavy iron bars and 
window blinds had been placed, which prevented 
the air from circulating freely ; the window recesses 
were nine feet deep. 

At each story the great tower communicated 
with four turrets standing at the angles. 

In one of the turrets was the staircase which 
led to the battlements; there were seven small 
windows placed at equal distance one from the 
other in this turret. 

From this staircase one could enter on each 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 67 

floor through two doors; the first was of very thick 
oak studded with nails; the second was of iron. 

Another turret opened on the king's chamber 
and served as a study. 

A closet had been made of the third. 

The fourth contained fire-wood; and in this also 
were kept, in the daytime, the folding beds on 
which His Majesty's guards spent the night. 

The ceiling of the king's room was covered 
with linen and the partitions with a colored paper. 

That of the antechamber represented the in- 
terior of a prison, and on one of the panels, done 
in large letters, was posted the Declaration of the 
Rights of Man, surrounded by a tricolored border. 

A bureau, a little desk, four quilted chairs, an 
armchair, a few caned chairs, a looking-glass on 
the mantelpiece, and a bed of green damask con- 
stituted all the furnishings. 

This furniture, as well as that of the other 
rooms, had been taken from the Temple mansion. 

The king's bed was that once used by the cap- 
tain of the guards of the Comte d'Artois. 

The queen was on the third story; the arrange- 
ment was about the same as that of the king's 
apartment. 

The bedroom of the queen and of Madame 



68 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

Royale was above that of the king; they used the 
turret as a dressing room. Madame Elisabeth 
occupied the room above mine. The first room 
was an anteroom; the guards remained there dur- 
ing the day and slept there at night. Tison and 
his wife had quarters above the dining room of 
the king's apartment. 

The fourth floor was not occupied; there was a 
passage on the inside of the battlements which 
sometimes was used as a walk. 

Blinds had been placed between the battlements 
to prevent the royal family from seeing or being 
seen. 

Since Their Majesties had been transferred to 
the great tower, but little change had taken place 
in the hours for meals, reading and walks, as well 
as in the moments which the king and queen had 
until then devoted to the education of their 
children. 

On arising, the king read the service of the 
Knights of the Holy Ghost; and as the saying of 
mass had been forbidden in the Temple, even on 
holy days, he requested me to secure for him the 
breviary used in the diocese of Paris. 

This prince was truly religious, but his religion, 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 69 

pure and enlightened, had never turned him from 
his other duties. 

Books of travel, the works of Montesquieu, 
those of Buffon; Le Spectacle de la Nature, by 
Pluche; The History of England, in English, by 
Hume; The Imitation of Jesus Christ, in Latin; 
Tasso, in Italian; our different dramas, were since 
his imprisonment his usual reading. 

He devoted four hours of the day to the Latin 
authors. 

Madame Elisabeth and the queen having asked 
for prayer books similar to those of the king, His 
Majesty ordered me to have them purchased. 

How often have I seen Madame Elisabeth 
kneeling near her bed and praying fervently! 

At nine o'clock the king and his son were taken 
to breakfast; I accompanied them. 

I then dressed the hair of the three princesses, 
and, by order of the queen, I taught hairdressing 
to Madame Royale. 

During that time the king played checkers or 
chess, sometimes with the queen, sometimes with 
Madame Royale. 

After dinner the young prince and his sister 
played shuttlecock and battledore or some other 
game, in the antechamber; Madame Elisabeth was 



70 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

always present and sat near a table, book in hand. 

I remained in that chamber and sometimes I 
read; at such times I sat down at the request o£ 
that princess. 

The royal family being thus scattered often 
worried the two men on guard who, not wishing 
to leave the king and queen alone, were even less 
desirous of separating, so distrustful were they of 
one another. 

Madame Elisabeth took advantage of these 
moments to ask me questions and to give me 
orders. 

I replied to her without raising my eyes from 
the book which I held in my hand so as not to be 
caught by the guards. 

Monsieur le Dauphin and Madame Royale, 
with the understanding of their aunt, facilitated 
these conversations by their noisy games, and often 
warned her by some sign of the approach of the 
guards. 

Above all I had to beware of Tison, of whom 
the officials, whom he had denounced several times, 
were themselves suspicious. It was in vain that 
the king and queen treated him with kindness ; 
nothing could overcome his inherent wickedness. 

In the evening, at the hour of retiring, the 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 71 

guards placed their beds in the antechamber so as 
to obstruct the door of the room occupied by the 
king. 

Besides this, they locked one of the doors of my 
room by which I could have entered the king's 
and took away the key. I was therefore com- 
pelled to go through the antechamber when His 
Majesty called me at night, endure the ill humor 
of the guards and wait until they were willing to 
arise and let me enter. 

On the 7th of October at six o'clock in the 
evening, I was called down to the Council Cham- 
ber, where I found some twenty officials assem- 
bled, presided over by Manuel, who from attorney 
of the Commune had become member of the 
National Convention. I was surprised and dis- 
turbed by his presence. 

I was directed to take from the king, that very 
evening, the orders which he still had, such as the 
Order of Saint Louis and that of the Golden 
Fleece; His Majesty no longer wore the Order of 
the Holy Ghost, which had been abolished by the 
first Assembly. 

I argued that I could not obey, that it was not 
for me to make known to the king the decrees of 
the Council. 



72 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

I made this reply so as to have the time to notify 
His Majesty. Besides, the embarrassed manners 
of the officials led me to believe that what they 
were doing at this moment was not authorized by 
a decree, either of the Convention or Commune. 

The officials refused to go up to the king; 
Manuel induced them to do so by offering to 
accompany them. 

The king was seated, busy reading. Manuel 
was the spokesman, and the conversation which 
followed was as remarkable by the improper 
familiarity of Manuel as it was by the calmness 
and moderation of the king. 

"How do you feel?" said Manuel. "Have you 
all you require?" 

"I do my best with what I have," replied His 
Majesty. 

"You have no doubt been informed of the 
victories of our armies, of the taking of Spires, of 
Nice, and of the conquest of Savoy?" 

"I heard it mentioned a few days ago by one 
of these gentlemen who was reading the evening 
paper." 

"How? Do you not receive the papers, now 
that they are so interesting?" 

"I receive none." 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 73 

"Gentlemen," said Manuel, turning to the 
guards, u you must supply all the newspapers to 
Monsieur," pointing to the king. "It is proper 
that he should be informed of our successes." 

Then again addressing the king: 

"Democratic principles are spreading; you know 
that the people have abolished royalty and adopted 
a republican form of government." 

"So I have heard; and I pray that the French 
may find the happiness which I have always sought 
to secure for them." 

"You likewise know that the National Assembly 
has abolished all orders of knighthood; you should 
have been told to take off your decorations ; having 
returned to ordinary citizenship, you must be 
treated accordingly; outside of that, ask for what 
you require, we shall eagerly secure it for you." 

"I thank you," said the king, "I am in need of 
nothing," and immediately resumed his reading. 

Manuel had sought to discover regrets or arouse 
impatience; he found only great resignation and 
unchangeable serenity. 

The committee withdrew; one of the officials 
told me to follow him to the Council Chamber, 
where I was again ordered to take away the king's 
decorations. 



74 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

Manuel added: 

"You will do well to send the medals and rib- 
bons to the Convention. I must also inform you," 
he continued, "that the imprisonment of Louis 
XVI may last a long time, and that if you do not 
intend to remain here you would do well to say 
so now; moreover, it is contemplated, in order to 
make the surveillance more easy, to reduce the 
number of persons employed in the tower; if you 
remain with the ex-king, you will then be entirely 
alone, and your duties will become more difficult; 
a week's supply of wood and water will be brought 
to you, but you will have to do the cleaning and 
other work." 

I replied that I was determined never to leave 
the king and would submit to everything. 

I was taken back to His Majesty's room. He 
said to me : 

"You have heard the orders of these gentle- 
men; you will take the orders off my clothes this 
evening." 

The next day, while dressing the king, I told 
him that I had put away the medals and ribbons, 
although Manuel had given me to understand that 
it would be proper to send them to the Convention. 

"You have done well," replied the king. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 75 

It has been rumored that Manuel had come to 
the Temple during the month of September to 
urge His Majesty to write to the king of Prussia 
about the time of his entry into Champagne. 

I may affirm that Manuel came to the tower 
but twice while I was there, September 3 and 
October 7, that each time he was accompanied by 
numerous officials and that he did not speak to 
the king privately. 

On the 15th of October a report of the minutes 
of the Convention was brought to the king; but a 
few days after an official, called Michel, a per- 
fumer, secured an order which again forbade the 
introduction of public papers in the tower; he 
called me to the Council Chamber and asked me 
by what authority I had newspapers sent to me. 
In fact, and without my knowledge, four papers 
were brought daily with this printed address on 
each : To the valet of Louis XVI, Temple tower. 

I never knew and do not know to-day the names 
of the persons who paid for these subscriptions. 

This Michel wanted to force me to tell him 
their names; he made me write to the editors of 
the papers to have the matter cleared up, but their 
answers, if they made any, were never submitted 
to me. 



76 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

This rule, prohibiting the admission of news 
papers in the tower, had its exceptions, however: 
when these papers furnished the occasion of a new 
insult. 

If they contained abusive remarks against the* 
king or queen, atrocious threats, infamous cal- 
umnies, certain officials with cold-blooded wicked- 
ness left them on the mantelpiece or on His 
Majesty's bureau, so that he would see them. The 
king once read, in one of the sheets, the request of 
a gunner who asked for the head of Louis XVI 
to load his cannon with it and fire it at the enemy. 

Another of these papers, speaking of Madame 
Elisabeth and wishing to destroy the admiration 
which her devotion to the king and queen inspired 
in the public, sought to ruin her good name by the 
most absurd charges. 

Still another declared that the young wolves 
which were in the tower should be smothered, 
meaning by this Monsieur le Dauphin and 
Madame Royale. 

The king was not affected by these articles, 
except on account of the impression they might 
make on the people. 

"The French," said he, "are very unfortunate 
to allow themselves to be thus deceived." 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 77 

I was careful to remove these newspapers from 
the king's sight whenever I was first to see them; 
but frequently they were left about when my duties 
kept me away from his room; therefore, but few 
of the articles, dictated with the intention of in- 
sulting the royal family, either to provoke a 
regicide or to prepare the people to allow of its 
commission, were not read by the king. 

Those who are acquainted with the insolent 
writings which were published at that time can 
alone form an idea of the untold tortures which 
they caused. 

The influence of these sanguinary writings also 
showed itself in the conduct of a large number of 
municipal guards who, until then, had neither been 
so harsh nor so distrustful. 

One day after dinner I had just written a 
memorandum of expenses in the Council Room 
and I had locked it in a desk of which I had been 
given the key. 

I had barely left the room when Marino, a 
guard, said to his colleagues, although he was not 
on duty, that they should open the desk, examine 
its contents, and make sure that I was not in cor- 
respondence with the enemies of the people 



78 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

"I know him well," he added, "and I know that 
he receives letters for the king." 

Then accusing his colleagues of compassion, he 
overwhelmed them with abuse, threatened, as 
accomplices, to denounce them all to the Council 
of the Commune, and he went out to carry out 
his threat. 

A statement was immediately drawn up of the 
papers contained in my desk, and it was sent to 
the Commune, to which Marino had already 
brought his charges. 

On another day the same official claimed that 
a draught board which I had had repaired, with 
the consent of his colleagues, and which was being 
returned to me, contained some hidden letter, and 
after having it taken apart, and finding nothing, 
he had it re-glued in his presence. 

On a Thursday, my wife and her friend having 
come to the Temple as usual, I spoke to them in 
the Council Chamber. 

The royal family, who were out walking, per- 
ceived us, and the queen and Madame Elisabeth 
nodded to us. 

The motion of simple interest was noticed by 
Marino; nothing more was required to cause the 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 79 

arrest of my wife and her friend as they were 
leaving the Council Chamber. 

They were questioned separately; my wife was 
asked who the lady was who accompanied her; she 
replied: "She is my sister." 

Questioned herself on the same subject, the 
friend declared that she was my wife's cousin. 

These contradictory statements were the basis 
of a lengthy report and of most serious suspicions. 

Marino claimed that that lady was one of the 
queen's pages in disguise. 

At last, after three hours of the most trouble- 
some and offensive questioning, they were set free. 

They were allowed to continue their visits to 
the Temple, but we increased our prudence and 
precaution. 

I frequently succeeded during these short inter- 
views in handing them notes written with a pencil 
which had escaped the officials in their search and 
which I had hidden most carefully; these notes 
related to some information requested by Their 
Majesties. 

Happily, on that day, I had given them none. 
Had a note been found on them, we would have 
run the greatest danger. 



80 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

Other officials distinguished themselves by the 
most fantastic acts. 

One of these had some macaroons broken up to 
see if no message was hidden in them. 

Another, for the same reason, had some peaches 
cut in his presence and the stones crushed open. 

A third, one day compelled me to drink some 
shaving preparation, intended for the king, pre- 
tending to fear it was poison. 

At the end of each meal Madame Elisabeth 
gave me a small gold-bladed knife to clean; often 
the guards would tear it from my hands to see if 
I had not slipped some paper in the sheath. 

Madame Elisabeth had given me a prayer book 
to return to the Duchess de Serent; the officials 
cut off the margins for fear that something might 
have been written on them with a special ink. 

One of these one day forbade me to go up to 
the queen's room to dress her hair; Her Majesty 
was compelled to come to the king's apartment 
and to bring all the necessary toilet articles. 

Another followed her when, as was her habit, 
she went at noon to Madame Elisabeth's room to 
change her morning dress. 

I explained to him the impropriety of this pro- 




MADAME ELIZABETH (The King's Sister) 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 81 

ceeding; he insisted. Her Majesty left the room 
and gave up her idea of changing her dress. 

When I received the laundry, the guards made 
me unfold it piece by piece, and examined it in full 
daylight. 

The laundress' book and any other paper which 
came around the clothes were held to the fire to 
make sure that there was no secret writing on 
them. 

The linen discarded by the king and the prin- 
cesses was also examined. 

Some officials, however, had no share in the 
harshness of their colleagues; but the majority, 
having become suspicious to the Committee of 
Public Safety, have died victims of their humanity. 
Those who still live suffered long in prison. 

A young man named Toulan, whom I believed 
to be by his speech one of the greatest enemies of 
the royal family, came to me one day and grasp- 
ing my hand, "I cannot, owing to the presence of 
my comrades, speak to the queen to-day," said 
he. "Notify her that I have done what she asked 
me to do; that I shall be on duty in a few days 
and will then bring her the reply." 

Astonished at hearing him speak thus., and fear- 
ing a trap : 

6 



82 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

"Sir," said I, "you are mistaken in applying to 
me for such an errand." 

"No, I am not mistaken," he retorted, pressing 
my hand with greater force. 

And he withdrew. 

I repeated the conversation to the queen. 

"You may trust Toulan," she said to me. 

This young man was later implicated with nine 
other municipal officials who were accused of hav- 
ing been willing to facilitate the escape of the 
queen, when she was still at the Temple. 

Toulan perished on the scaffold. 

Their Majesties, imprisoned in the tower for 
three months, had as yet only seen municipal 
guards, when on November i a committee from 
the National Convention was announced. 

It was made up of Drouet, postmaster at 
Varennes, of Chabot, an ex-friar, of Dubois- 
Crance, of Duprat, and of two others whose 
names I do not recall. 

The royal family, especially the queen, shud- 
dered with horror at sight of Drouet; this deputy 
insolently took a seat near her, and following his 
example, Chabot sat down. 

The committee asked the king how he was 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 83 

treated, and if he were given the things he 
required. 

"I complain of nothing," replied His Majesty; 
"I only ask that the committee see to it that the 
sum of 2,000 francs for sundry current expenses 
be given to my valet, or deposited with the Coun- 
cil, and that we be supplied with linen and clothes 
of which we have the greatest need." 

The deputies promised, but nothing was sent. 

A few days after, the king had a large swelling 
on his face; I eagerly requested that M. Dubois, 
dentist to His Majesty, be sent for. 

They deliberated three days and the request 
was refused. 

A fever followed. His Majesty was then 
allowed to consult M. le Monnier, his chief 
physician. 

It would be hard to describe the grief of this 
respectable old man at sight of his master. 

The queen and her children hardly ever left 
the king during the daytime, waited on him with 
me, and often assisted me in making his bed; I 
spent the nights alone with His Majesty. 

M. le Monnier came twice a day, followed by 
a large number of guards; he was searched and 
was only permitted to speak aloud. 



84 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

One day that the king had taken medicine, 
M. le Monnier asked to remain a few hours; as 
he was standing while several officials were seated 
and had their hats on their heads, His Majesty 
asked him to take a seat, which he declined to do 
out of respect; at this the officials murmured in 
audible tones. 

The king's illness lasted six days. 

A few days after, the young prince, who slept 
in His Majesty's chamber and whom the officials 
had refused to transfer to that of the queen, was 
taken ill with a fever. 

The queen felt the greatest anxiety over his 
condition; the more so because, in spite of the 
most earnest pleadings, she was not allowed to 
spend the night by her son's bed. 

She took the tenderest care of him in the 
moments during which she was permitted to stay 
near him. 

The same illness spread to the queen, to 
Madame Royale and to Madame Elisabeth. 

M. le Monnier secured permission to continue 
his visits. 

In turn I fell ill. 

The room which I occupied was a damp one 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 85 

and without a fireplace, and the window blind in- 
terfered with the free circulation of the air. 

I was attacked by a rheumatic fever, with a 
violent pain in the side which compelled me to 
remain in bed. 

The first day I arose to assist the king to dress, 
but His Majesty, seeing my condition, refused 
my assistance, and ordered me to return to bed, 
he himself assisting his son in dressing. 

During the first day Monsieur le Dauphin 
hardly left me; this august child brought drinks 
to me. In the evening the king took advantage 
of a moment when he seemed to be less carefully 
watched to enter my room ; he made me take some 
beverage, and said to me with a kindness which 
brought tears to my eyes: 

"I wish I could care for you myself, but you 
know how carefully we are watched; have cour- 
age, to-morrow you will see my physician." 

At supper time the royal family entered my 
room, and Madame Elisabeth, without the knowl- 
edge of the guards, gave me a small bottle which 
contained an emulsion. 

This princess, who had a very bad cold, was 
depriving herself for me. I wished to refuse; 
she insisted. 



86 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

After supper the queen undressed and put the 
young prince to bed, and Madame Elisabeth put 
up the king's hair. 

The next morning M. le Monnier ordered me 
to be bled, but the consent of the Commune was 
required to send for a surgeon. 

They spoke of transferring me to the Temple 
mansion. 

Fearing not to be allowed to return to the 
tower, if once I left it, I said that I did not wish 
to be bled; and even pretended to feel better. 

In the evening new guards came and my trans- 
fer was not mentioned again. 

Turgy asked to be allowed to spend the night 
near me; this request was granted him, as well 
as to his two comrades, who took turns in caring 
for me. 

I remained in bed six days, and every day the 
royal family came to see me. 

Madame Elisabeth often brought me medicine 
which she asked for as if for herself. 

So much kindness brought me back part of my 
strength, and instead of a feeling of grief I soon 
felt only one of gratitude and admiration. 

Who would not have been touched at seeing 
this august family suspend, in a manner, the 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 87 

recollection of their long misfortunes to attend to 
one of their servants! 

I must not forget to report an act of Monsieur 
le Dauphin which proves how great was the good- 
ness of his heart and how he profited by the 
examples of virtue which he continually had 
before his eyes. 

One night, after having put him to bed, I with- 
drew to make room for the queen and princesses, 
who came to kiss him and bid him good-night in 
bed; Madame Elisabeth, whom the watchfulness 
of the guards had prevented from speaking to 
me, took advantage of this opportunity to hand 
him a small box of ipecacuanha tablets, asking 
him to give them to me when I returned. 

The princesses returned to their rooms; the 
king stepped into his study, and I went to supper. 

I returned to the king's room about eleven 
o'clock to prepare His Majesty's bed; I was alone; 
the young prince called me in a whisper. I was 
much surprised not to find him asleep, and, fear- 
ing that he might be ill, I asked him the reason. 

"My aunt," said he, "gave me this little box 
for you and I did not wish to go to sleep before 
giving it to you ; it is time you came, for my eyes 
have already closed several times." 



88 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

Mine filled with tears. He noticed it, em- 
braced me, and two minutes after he was sleeping 
soundly. 

To this tender-heartedness the young prince 
combined much charm, and all the amiability of 
his age. 

Often, by his artlessness, the playfulness of his 
character, and his little tricks, he caused his august 
parents to forget their sad predicament; but he 
felt it himself, and knew, although so young, that 
he was in a prison and saw himself watched by 
enemies. 

His conduct and his speech had taken on that 
reserve which instinct, when there is a danger, 
inspires perhaps at all ages; I never heard him 
speak of the Tuileries nor of Versailles, nor of 
any object which might have recalled to the queen 
or to the king some painful memory. 

If he saw some guard whom he knew to be 
better hearted than his colleagues, he ran to the 
queen, and hastened to tell her of it. He would 
tell her with a marked expression of joy : "Mother, 
Monsieur So-and-so is here to-day." 

One day, as his eyes were fixed on a guard 
whom he said he recognized, the latter asked him 
where he had first seen him. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 89 

For a long time the prince refused to answer, 
then finally, bending towards the queen : "It was," 
said he to her in a whisper, "during our Varennes 
trip." 

The following is another proof of his sensi- 
tiveness : 

A workman was busy making holes in the door 
of our antechamber to put enormous bolts in it; 
the young prince, while the workman was lunch- 
ing, was playing with his tools; the king took 
from his son's hands the hammer and the chisel, 
showing him how they should be used. 

He made use of these for a few moments. 

The workman, moved at seeing the king work 
thus, said to His Majesty: 

"When you get out of this tower you will be 
able to say that you yourself have worked at 
your prison." 

"Ah !" replied the king, "when and how shall I 
get out of it?" 

Monsieur le Dauphin shed tears. The king 
let the hammer and chisel fall, and returning to 
his room he walked to and fro for some time. 

On the 2d of December the Municipality of the 
10th of August was replaced by another under 
the title of Provisional Municipality. 



90 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

Many officials were reelected; at first I thought 
that this new Municipality would be made up of 
better men than the former, and I hoped for some 
favorable changes in the regulations of the prison. 

I was disappointed in my expectations. 

Several of these new officials gave me reason 
to regret their predecessors; the latter were 
coarser, but it was easy for me to take advantage 
of their natural indiscretion to learn what they 
knew. 

I was obliged to study the officers of the new 
Municipality so as to understand their behavior 
and character. The first were more insolent; the 
wickedness of the second was more cold-blooded. 

Until this time there had been but one guard 
to watch over the king and another over the 
queen ; the new government gave orders that there 
should be two, and henceforth it became much 
more difficult for me to speak to the king and to 
the princesses. 

On the other hand, the Council which until then 
had assembled in one of the halls of the Temple 
mansion, was transferred to a room on the ground 
floor of the tower. 

The new municipal officers wished to surpass 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 91 

the former ones in their zeal, and this zeal was 
but an emulation of tyranny. 

On December 7 an official, at the head of a 
committee from the Commune, came to read to 
the king a decree which ordered taken away from 
the prisoners "knives, razors, penknives, and other 
sharp instruments of which prisoners presumably 
guilty of crime are deprived, and to make the 
most careful search both of their persons and 
apartments." 

During this reading the official's voice weak- 
ened; it was easy to perceive that he was doing it 
against his will, and he has since proved by his 
behavior that he had consented to be sent to the 
Temple only so as to be of use to the royal 
family, if possible. 

The king drew from his pockets a knife and 
a small red morocco dressing case; he took from 
it a pair of scissors and a penknife. 

The officials made the most careful examination 
of the apartments; took razors, curling irons, the 
toilet knife, toothpicks and other gold and silver 
objects. 

A similar examination was made of my room, 
and I was ordered to turn my pockets inside out. 

The officials then went up to the queen's room, 



THE ROYAL FAMILY 



read the same decree to the three princesses, and 
took away even their little workboxes. 

An hour after, I was called down to the Council 
Chamber and asked if I knew what objects had 
been left in the dressing case which the king had 
put back in his pocket. 

"I order you," said an official named Sermaize, 
to me, "to take away the dressing case to-night." 

"It is not for me," I replied, "to carry out the 
decrees of the Commune, nor to search in the 
pockets of the king." 

"Clery is right," said another official, turn- 
ing to Sermaize; "it was your duty to do the 
searching." 

A list of the various objects taken from the 
royal family was drawn up, and these objects were 
put in packages and sealed. 

I was then ordered to place my signature at the 
bottom of a paper which directed me to notify the 
Council if I should find any sharp instruments 
on the king or on the princesses, or in their 
apartments. 

These different documents were then sent to 
the Commune. 

By looking through the registers of the Temple 
Council, one could see that I have often been com- 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 93 

pelled to sign decrees and orders whose form and 
wording I was far from approving. 

I have never signed anything, said anything, 
nor done anything except by order of the king or 
of the queen. 

A refusal on my part would have banished me 
from Their Majesties, to whom I had devoted my 
life; my signature at the bottom of certain papers 
had no other object than to make it known that 
these papers had been read to me. 

The same Sermaize, of whom I have just 
spoken, then accompanied me to the apartment of 
His Majesty. 

The king was seated near the fireplace, the tongs 
in his hand. 

Sermaize asked him on behalf of the Council 
to see what had been left in the dressing case ; the 
king drew it from his pocket and opened it; there 
was a screw-driver, a worm screw and a small flint. 

Sermaize asked for these. 

"Are not these tongs which I hold in my hands 
sharp instruments?" asked the king, turning his 
back on him. 

This official having gone below, I had the 
opportunity to tell His Majesty all that had taken 
place at the Council regarding this second search. 



94 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

At dinner time a discussion arose between the 
officials, some being opposed to the royal family 
using forks and knives; others consenting to 
leave them the forks. Finally it was decided 
that no change would be made, but that the knives 
and forks would be taken away at the end of each 
meal. 

Being deprived of their workboxes was a great 
hardship to the princesses, as they were compelled 
to give up the various works which until now had 
helped to while away the long prison hours. 

One day Madame Elisabeth was sewing the 
king's clothes, and not having any scissors she 
broke the thread with her teeth. 

"What a contrast!" said the king, who was 
looking at her with emotion; "you lacked nothing 
in your pretty house at Montreuil." 

"Ah ! my brother," she replied, "can I have 
regrets when I share your misfortunes!" 

Meanwhile each day brought new decrees, each 
of which was a new tyranny. 

The bluntness and harshness of the guards 
towards me become more and more noticeable. 

The three servants had received renewed orders 
not to speak to me, and everything made me fear 
some new misfortune. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 95 

The queen and Madame Elisabeth, struck with 
the same presentiment, were always asking me for 
news and I was unable to give them any; I did not 
expect my wife before three days, and my im- 
patience was extreme. 

At last, on Thursday, my wife came. 

I was called down to the Council Room; she 
affected to speak very loud so as to remove sus- 
picion from our new guards, while she gave me 
particulars of our domestic affairs. 

"Tuesday next," said her friend to me, "the 
king is to be taken to the Convention; the trial is 
going to begin. His Majesty will be allowed to 
select counsel. All that is certain." 

I knew not how to announce this dreadful news 
directly to the king; I should have liked to inform 
the queen and Madame Elisabeth of it first, but I 
was in the greatest state of fear; the time was 
short and the king had forbidden me to hide any- 
thing from him. 

That evening while undressing him I made him 
acquainted with all I had heard; I even made him 
foresee that during the trial he would probably be 
separated from his family, and I added that there 
were but four days to arrange with the queen on 
some means of corresponding with her. 



96 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

I assured him that I was prepared to undertake 
everything so as to facilitate this correspondence. 

The coming of the guards did not permit me to 
say more, and prevented His Majesty from an- 
swering me. 

The next morning while assisting him to dress, 
I could find no opportunity to speak to him. He 
went to the next floor with his son to breakfast 
with the princesses; I followed him. 

After breakfast he spoke quite a long time with 
the queen who, by a look which was full of grief, 
made me understand that they were speaking 
about what I had told the king. 

In the course of the day I found a chance to 
speak to Madame Elisabeth. I explained to her 
how much it had cost me to increase the king's 
sorrows by acquainting him with the day on which 
his trial was to begin. 

She reassured me by saying that the king greatly 
appreciated this mark of attachment on my part. 

"What grieves him most," she added, "is the 
fear of being separated from us. Try to secure 
more information." 

In the evening the king expressed to me how 
pleased he was to have heard in advance that he 
was to appear before the Convention. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 07 

"Continue," said he to me, "to try and discover 
what they intend to do with me; never fear to 
grieve me. My family and I are agreed to pre- 
tend not to know anything about this matter so as 
not to compromise you." 

The nearer the date of the trial came, the more 
suspicious the officials were of me; they answered 
none of my questions. 

I had already made use, but in vain, of different 
pretexts to go down to the Council Room where 
I could have secured some new details to transmit 
to the king, when a committee appointed to 
examine the expenses of the royal family came to 
the Temple. 

They were compelled to send for me to give 
information, and I learned from a well-intentioned 
official that the separation of the king from his 
family, decreed only by the Commune, had not 
yet been confirmed by the National Assembly. 

The same day Turgy brought me a newspaper 
where I found the decree which ordered that the 
king be arraigned at the bar of the Convention; 
he also handed me a paper on the king's trial, 
published by M. Necker. 

The only way I was able to get these papers to 
the royal family was by hiding them under a piece 

7 



98 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

of furniture in the closet, after having notified 
the king and the princesses. 

On the nth of December, 1792, as early as 
five o'clock in the morning, the beating of the 
general was heard throughout Paris, and cavalry 
and cannon were ordered in the Temple garden. 

This noise would have greatly alarmed the 
royal family if they had not known the cause ; they 
pretended to be ignorant of it, however, and asked 
the men on guard for an explanation; they refused 
to answer. 

At nine o'clock the king and Monsieur le 
Dauphin went up to the princesses' room for 
breakfast. 

Their Majesties remained an hour together, but 
throughout under the eyes of the guards. 

This continual torture for the royal family of 
not being able to give vent to their feelings at a 
time when so many fears must have possessed 
them, was one of the most refined cruelties of their 
tyrants and one of their greatest joys. 

At last they had to separate. 

The king left the queen, Madame Elisabeth 
and his daughter; their glances expressed what 
they could not say to one another. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 99 

As on the other days, Monsieur le Dauphin 
went downstairs with the king. 

This young prince, who often induced His 
Majesty to play a game of ninepins with him, was 
so insistent that day that the king, in spite of his 
plight, could not refuse. 

Monsieur le Dauphin lost every game and twice 
he was unable to go beyond sixteen. 

"Every time I have this number sixteen," said 
he with a slight show of irritation, "I cannot win 
the game." 

The king did not reply, but I thought I noticed 
that these words made a certain impression on 
him. 

At eleven o'clock, while the king was giving 
Monsieur le Dauphin his reading lesson, two 
guards entered saying that they came to get young 
Louis to take him to his mother. 

The king wished to know the reason of this; 
the guards replied that they were carrying out the 
orders of the Council of the Commune. 

His Majesty embraced his son tenderly and 
requested me to conduct him to the queen. 

Having returned to the king, I told him that 
I had left the young prince in his mother's arms; 
this seemed to quiet him. 



ioo THE ROYAL FAMILY 

One of the guards returned to announce that 
Chambon, mayor of Paris, was in the Council 
Room and that he was coming up. 

"What does he want of me?" asked the king. 

"I do not know," replied the guard. 

For a few moments His Majesty took long 
strides about the room, then sat down in an arm- 
chair near the head of his bed. 

The door was half closed and the guard dared 
not enter, — so as to avoid being questioned, he 
explained to me. 

A half hour having thus elapsed in the deepest 
silence, the guard, becoming anxious at not hear- 
ing the king, entered softly, found him with his 
head resting on his hands, and appearing in deep 
thought. 

"What do you want of me?" said the king to 
him, raising his voice. 

"I feared that you were ill," replied the guard. 

"I thank you," said the king in tones of deepest 
grief; "but I am much affected by the way my son 
has been taken from me." 

The guard did not reply and withdrew. 

The mayor did not appear before one o'clock; 
he was accompanied by Chaumette, the Com- 
mune's attorney, Coulombeau, secretary of the 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON ior 

Commune, several municipal officials and Santerre, 
commander of the national guard; the latter with 
his staff. 

The mayor said to the king that he came to 
conduct him to the Convention by virtue of an 
order which the secretary of the Commune would 
read to him. 

This order stated that "Louis Capet would be 
arraigned at the bar of the National Convention." 

"Capet is not my name," said the king; "it is 
the name of one of my ancestors." 

"I should have liked, sir," added he, "that the 
guards had left my son with me during the two 
hours which I spent in waiting for you; but this 
treatment is only a continuation of that which I 
have endured for the past four months. I am 
going to follow you, not in obedience to the Con- 
vention, but because my enemies have strength on 
their side." 

I gave His Majesty his coat and hat, and he 
followed the mayor of Paris. 

A numerous escort awaited him at the Temple 
door. 

Being left alone in the room with one of the 
guards, I learned from him that the king would 
not again see his family, but that the mayor of 



102 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

Paris had still to consult some deputies about this 
separation. 

I asked this guard to take me to Monsieur le 
Dauphin, who was with the queen; this request 
was granted. 

I only left the queen's apartment at six o'clock 
at night, at the time of the king's return from the 
Convention. 

The officials acquainted the queen with the de- 
parture of the king for the National Assembly, 
but refused to enter into details. 

The princesses and Monsieur le Dauphin went 
down as usual to dine with the king, after which 
they returned to their apartment. 

After dinner, a solitary guard remained with 
the queen. 

He was a young man about twenty-four years 
of age; he happened to be on guard at the tower 
for the first time, and appeared less suspicious and 
bad than the majority of his colleagues. 

The queen, entering into a conversation with 
him, asked him about his trade, his parents, etc. 

Madame Elisabeth took this chance and stepped 
into her room, making me a sign to follow her 
there. 

Having entered her chamber, I told her that 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 103 

the Commune had decreed to separate the king 
and his family, that I feared that this separation 
might take place that very night; that, in truth, 
the Convention had as yet decided nothing, but 
that the mayor had been commissioned to request 
it, and that no doubt it would be confirmed. 

"The queen and I," replied the princess, "are 
ready for anything, and we do not deceive our- 
selves as to the fate which is in store for the 
king. 

u He will die a victim of his goodness and of 
his affection for his people, for whose happiness 
he has never ceased to labor since his accession 
to the throne. 

u How cruelly the people are deceived! 

"The king's religion and his great confidence in 
Providence will sustain him in his cruel adversity. 

"Lastly," added this virtuous princess, her eyes 
filled with tears, "Clery, you alone are going to 
remain with my brother; take more care of him, 
if possible, than ever before; neglect no oppor- 
tunity to let us hear from him, but do not expose 
yourself, for then we should have no one in whom 
to confide." 

I assured Madame Elisabeth of my devotion 



104 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

to the king, and we agreed upon a means of 
communicating. 

Turgy was the only one to whom I could impart 
this secret; but I could speak to him but seldom 
and with precaution. 

It was agreed that I should continue to keep the 
linen and clothes of Monsieur le Dauphin; that 
every day I should send what he required and 
that I should take advantage of the opportunity 
to give news of what was going on in the king's 
apartment. 

This plan suggested to Madame Elisabeth the 
idea of giving me a handkerchief. 

"You will keep it," she said to me, "as long 
as my brother is well; should he become ill, you 
could send it to me in with my nephew's linen." 

The way of folding it was to indicate the sort 
of illness. 

The grief of this princess when speaking of the 
king, her indifference to her personal plight, and 
the value which she was pleased to attach to my 
feeble services to the king, moved me deeply. 

"Have you heard anything about the queen?" 
she said to me with a kind of terror. "Alas! 
what could they say against her!" 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 105 

"No, Madame, but what can they say against 
the king?" 

"Oh, nothing, nothing; but perhaps they look 
upon the king as a victim necessary to their safety; 
the queen, on the contrary, and her children would 
be no obstacle to their ambition !" 

I made bold to remark that the king would 
doubtless only be condemned to banishment; that 
I had heard it mentioned, and that Spain not 
having declared war, it was plausible that the king 
and royal family would be sent there. 

"I have no hope of the king's being saved," 
said she. 

I thought it well to add that the foreign powers 
were trying to find a means of getting the king out 
of prison; that Monsieur and the Comte d'Artois 
were again gathering the emigres about them, and 
that they were to join the Austrian and Prussian 
forces; that Spain and England would take some 
measures; that all Europe was interested in pre- 
venting the king's death and that for these reasons 
the Convention would have to give the matter 
serious thought before pronouncing sentence on 
His Majesty. 

This conversation had been going on for an 
hour when Madame Elisabeth, to whom I had 



106 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

never spoken so long, fearing the arrival of the 
new guards, left me to enter the queen's chamber. 

Tison and his wife, who watched me ceaselessly, 
remarked that I had remained a long time with 
Madame Elisabeth, and that it was to be feared 
that the guard had noticed it; I replied to them 
that the princess had spoken to me of her nephew, 
who probably was henceforth to remain with his 
mother. N 

A moment after I returned to the queen to 
whom Madame Elisabeth had just imparted her 
conversation with me, and the means of cor- 
respondence on which we had agreed. 

Her Majesty was pleased to express her satis- 
faction to me. 

At six o'clock the officials called me down to 
the Council Chamber; they read a decree to me 
which ordered that I should have no communica- 
tion with the three princesses nor with the young 
prince, because it was intended that I should wait 
on the king only. 

It was even ordered at first, so as to place the 
king in a sort of solitary confinement, that I should 
not sleep in his apartment. 

I was to have a room in the small tower and 
only to be taken to the king when he needed me. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 107 

At half-past six the king came; he seemed tired, 
and his first request was that he be taken to his 
family. 

This was refused on the pretext that they had 
no such orders. He insisted that it at least be 
notified of his return ; this they promised to do. 

The king ordered me to ask for his supper for 
half-past eight and he spent the intervening two 
hours in his usual reading, but surrounded through- 
out by four guards. 

At half-past eight I went to inform His Majesty 
that supper was ready. He asked the guards if 
his family was not to come down; no reply was 
made. 

"But, at least," said the king, "my son shall 
spend the night in my apartment, his bed and his 
effects being here." 

The same silence prevailed. 

After supper the king again insisted on his 
desire to see his family. The answer vouchsafed 
was that they had to await the decision of the 
Convention. 

I then gave what was needed for the night by 
the young prince. 

That night while I was undressing the king, he 
said to me: 



io8 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

"My thoughts were far from the many ques- 
tions which were put to me." 

He went to bed with great composure; the 
Commune's order with regard to my being with- 
drawn from the service of the royal family was 
not carried out. 

It would have been too much trouble for the 
municipal officials to come to get me every time 
the king required my services. 

The next day, the 12th, the king perceived a 
guard and he inquired if a decision had been 
reached on his request to see his family. 

The answer came that they were still awaiting 
orders. 

He requested the same guard to make inquiries 
about the health of the princesses and that of 
Monsieur le Dauphin and to let them know that 
he was well. 

On his return the guard assured him that his 
family was enjoying good health. 

The king ordered me to have his son's bed 
taken to the queen's apartment, where the young 
prince had spent the night on one of her mattresses. 

I asked His Majesty to await the decision of 
the Convention. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 109 

"I expect no consideration, no justice," replied 
the king; "but let us wait." 

On the same day a committee from the Con- 
vention, composed of four deputies, Thuriot, 
Cambaceres, Dubois-Crance and Dupont-de-Bi- 
gorre, brought the decree which authorized the 
king to select a counsel. 

The king stated that he selected M. Target, or 
else M. Tronchet, or both, if the National Con- 
vention consented to this. 

The deputies made the king sign his request 
and signed it after him. 

The king added that it would be necessary to 
supply him with paper, pens and ink. 

His Majesty gave the address of M. Tronchet's 
country house and said that he did not know 
where M. Target dwelt. 

On the morning of the 13th, the committee 
returned to the Temple, and reported that 
M. Target had refused to be his counsel, and that 
M. Trouchet had been sent for; and that no doubt 
he would come during the day. They then read 
to the king the contents of several letters which 
had been sent to the Convention by M. M. 
Sourdat, Huet, Guillaume and Lamoignon de 
Malesherbes, former president of the Cour des 



no THE ROYAL FAMILY 

Aides of Paris, and afterward minister of the 
royal household. 

The letter of M. de Malesherbes was worded 
as follows : 

"Paris, December nth, 1792. 
"Citizen-president, 

"I do not know whether the Convention will 
allow to Louis XVI a counsel to defend him, and 
if it will give him the choice ; in which case I wish 
Louis XVI to know that if he selects me for this 
duty, I am ready to devote myself to it. 

"I do not ask you to impart my offer to the 
Convention, for I am far from believing myself 
sufficiently important to be considered by them; 
but I have been twice called to the council of the 
one who was once my master at a time when such 
places were sought after by every one; I owe him 
the same assistance when he is in a position which 
many people consider dangerous; if I knew of 
any other means of reaching him, I should not 
take the liberty of addressing you. 

"I thought that in the position which you hold, 
you, more than any one else, could find a way to 
have this letter reach him. 

"I am, with respect, 

("Signed) Lamoignon de Malesherbes." 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON in 

His Majesty replied to the committee: 

"I am much moved by the offers of those who 
ask to serve as counsel for me; I beg you to express 
my gratitude to them. I accept M. de Males- 
herbes as my counsel; if M. Tronchet cannot lend 
me his services, I shall consult with M. de 
Malesherbes to choose another." 

On December 14th, as the decree allowed, 
M. Tronchet conferred with His Majesty. 

On the same day M. de Malesherbes was ad- 
mitted to the tower; the king ran forward to meet 
that good old man, whom he tenderly embraced, 
and this former minister burst into tears at sight 
of his master, either because he recalled the first 
years of his reign, or else that at this moment he 
saw only the virtuous man struggling with 
adversity. 

As the king was permitted to confer privately 
with his counsel, I closed the door of his room so 
that he might be able to speak more freely to 
M. de Malesherbes. 

A guard reproached me for doing this, ordered 
me to open it and forbade me to close it hence- 
forth. I opened the door but His Majesty was 
already in the turret, which he used as a study. 



ii2 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

The King and M. de Malesherbes spoke very 
loud at this first conference. 

The guards who were in the room listened to 
their conversation and were able to hear it. 

M. de Malesherbes having gone, I informed 
the king of the orders given me by the guard and 
of the attention with which the guards had listened 
to the conference; I begged him to close the door 
himself, hereafter, whenever he happened to be 
with his counsel, which he did. 

On the 15 th the king received a reply regard- 
ing his family. 

The decree stated in substance "that the queen 
and Madame Elisabeth should not communicate 
with the king during the course of the trial, that 
his children should come to him, if he so desired, 
but on condition that they should not see their 
mother or aunt until after the last examination." 

As soon as I was able to speak privately to the 
king I asked for his orders. 

"You see," said the king, "the cruel alternative 
in which they have placed me. I cannot make up 
my mind to have my children with me; for my 
daughter it is impossible and for my son, I an- 
ticipate all the grief which the queen would feel. 
I must then consent to this new sacrifice." 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 113 

His Majesty ordered me for the second time to 
have the young prince's bed taken to his mother's 
apartment. I obeyed at once. 

I kept his linen and clothes; and every other 
day I sent him what he required, as agreed with 
Madame Elisabeth. 

On the 1 6th, at four o'clock in the afternoon, 
there came another committee of four members 
from the convention: Valaze, Cochon, Grandpre 
and Duprat, representing the Commission of 
Twenty-one, named to examine the case against 
the king. 

They were accompanied by a secretary, a sheriff 
and by an officer of the guard of the Convention. 

They brought a copy of the king's impeach- 
ment, and papers relating to his case, the majority 
having been found in a secret closet of His 
Majesty's apartment, called by Minister Rolland 
the iron closet. 

The reading of these papers, numbering one 
hundred and seven, lasted from four o'clock until 
midnight; all were read and initialed by the 
king, as well as a copy of each, which was left in 
his hands. 

The king was seated at a large table, M. 

Tronchet at his side, and the deputies opposite. 
8 



ii 4 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

After the reading of each paper, Valaze asked 
the king: 

"Do you understand the purport?" 

He would reply yes or no without any other 
explanation. 

Another deputy made him sign them, as well 
as the copy which the third deputy offered to read 
each time, with which task His Majesty always 
dispensed. 

A fourth called out the papers by bundles and 
by numbers and the secretary recorded them in 
order as they were given to the king. 

His Majesty interrupted the sitting by asking 
the members of the Convention if they wished to 
have supper; they consented. I had them served 
with some cold chicken and fruit, in the dining 
room. 

M. Tronchet would accept nothing and re- 
mained alone in the room with the king. 

A guard, named Merceraut, then a stone-cutter 
and former president of the Commune of Paris 
although a chair-carrier at Versailles before the 
Revolution, happened that day to be on duty at 
the Temple for the first time. 

He was dressed in his ragged working clothes 
with a very shabby round hat, a leather apron and 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 115 

a tricolor scarf; this man had presumed to stretch 
himself in an armchair, near the king, while His 
Majesty was on a chair. 

He spoke familiarly, his hat on his head, to all 
those who addressed him; the members of the 
Convention were surprised at this, and during the 
supper one of them asked me several questions 
about Merceraut, and on the manner in which the 
Municipality treated the king. 

I was about to answer when another member 
told his comrade to cease his questions, that it was 
forbidden to speak to me, and that if he sought 
any information he could get all he wanted by 
applying to the Council Chamber. 

The deputy, fearing that he might have com- 
promised himself, did not reply. 

The examination was resumed. 

Among the papers presented to him, the king 
perceived the statement which he had made on 
his return from Varennes when MM. Tronchet, 
Barnave and Duport had been named by the Con- 
stitutional Assembly to receive it. 

This statement was signed by the king and the 
deputies. 

"You admit this paper to be authentic," said 



n6 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

the king to M. Tronchet; "there is your 
signature." 

A few of these bundles contained projects for 
a constitution with notes in His Majesty's hand- 
writing; several of these notes were written in ink, 
others in pencil. 

Police registers were also presented to the king 
in which were denunciations made and signed by 
servants of His Majesty; this ingratitude seemed 
to move him greatly. 

The informers had pretended to give an account 
of what took place in the king's and queen's apart- 
ments at the Tuileries only to give a semblance of 
truth to their calumnies. 

When the committee had departed, the king 
took a little food and went to bed, without com- 
plaining of the fatigue which he felt. He only 
asked me if his family's supper had been delayed, 
and on my reply in the negative: 

"I am glad, for any delay might have caused it 
anxiety," he said. 

He was even pleased to reproach me for not 
having had my supper before him. A few days 
after, the four deputies, members of the Com- 
mission of Twenty-one, returned to the Temple. 

They read to the king fifty-one new papers 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 117 

which he signed and initialed, like the preceding 
lot, which made in all one hundred and fifty-eight 
papers, copies of which were left with him. 

From the 14th to the 26th of December the 
king saw his counsels regularly; they came at five 
o'clock in the evening, and withdrew at nine. 

M. de Seze was their associate. 

Every morning M. de Malesherbes brought to 
His Majesty the newspapers and the printed 
opinions of the deputies relating to his case. He 
prepared the work of each evening and remained 
with His Majesty an hour or two. 

The king was often pleased to give me some of 
these opinions to read, and would then say: 

"What do you think of so-and-so's opinion?" 

"I lack words to express my indignation," I 
replied, "but, sire, how can you read all this with- 
out disgust?" 

"I see how far the wickedness of men may go," 
said the king. "I did not think that it could exist 
to such extent." 

His Majesty never retired without having read 
these various papers, and so as not to compromise 
M. de Malesherbes, he then had the precaution 
to burn them himself in his study stove. 

I had already found a favorable way to speak 



n8 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

to Turgy, and to instruct him to bring news of 
the king to Madame Elisabeth. 

Turgy warned me the next day that the princess, 
when returning him her napkin after dinner, had 
given him a small note written with pin pricks, in 
which she asked me to request the king to write 
her a line with his own hand. 

The same evening I imparted to His Majesty 
the wish of Madame Elisabeth. 

As paper and pen had been given to the king 
since the beginning of the trial, the king wrote an 
unsealed note to his sister, telling me that it con- 
tained nothing that could compromise me and ask- 
ing me to read it. On the last matter I begged 
His Majesty to relieve me, for the first time, from 
obeying him. 

The next day I handed the note to Turgy, who 
brought me back the reply in a spool of cotton 
which he threw under my bed while passing near 
my room door. 

It was with much pleasure that His Majesty 
saw this means of getting news from his family 
succeed; I remarked that it would be easy to con- 
tinue this system of correspondence. 

The king would hand me the note ; I was careful 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 119 

to make it as small as possible and to cover it with 
cotton. 

Turgy would find it in the closet where the din- 
ner dishes were kept, and made use of different 
means to transmit the replies. 

When I gave them to the king he always said 
to me with kindness : 

"Be careful, you are exposing yourself too 
much." 

The candles supplied to me by the commissaries 
came in packages tied with string. 

When I had a sufficient quantity of string, I 
announced to the king that more active cor- 
respondence depended on him alone. I suggested 
that a part of the string be given to Madame 
Elisabeth, whose apartment was directly above 
mine and whose window corresponded perpen- 
dicularly to that of a little corridor which com- 
municated with my room. 

The princess during the night could fasten her 
letters to this string and let them down to the 
window which was beneath hers. 

The same system could be made use of to send 
the replies to the princess. 

In the same way writing materials, of which she 



120 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

had been deprived, could be sent up to the 
princess. 

"This is a good scheme," said His Majesty, 
"we shall make use of it, if the one of which we 
have made use until now becomes impracticable." 

In fact the king made use of it later. 

He always waited until eight o'clock in the 
evening for the carrying out of this plan of cor- 
respondence; I would then close the door of my 
room, as also that of the corridor, and talked with 
the guards of the Commune, or urged them to 
play some game so as to divert their attention. 

It was about this time that Marchand, a waiter, 
and father of a family, who had just received his 
pay, amounting to two hundred francs, was robbed 
in the Temple ; this loss was very considerable for 
him. 

The king having noticed his sadness, and hav- 
ing learned its cause, told me to give to Marchand 
the sum of two hundred francs, with the request 
that he mention it to no one, and specially not to 
try to thank him, for, he added, he would get 
himself into serious trouble. 

Marchand was much affected by His Majesty's 
kindness, but even more so by having been for- 
bidden to express his gratitude. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 121 

Since his separation from his family, the king 
always refused to go down into the garden; when 
the proposition was made to him, he would reply: 

"I cannot make up my mind to go out alone; 
the walk was pleasant to me only because I enjoyed 
it with my family." 

But although away from those most dear to his 
heart, although certain of his fate, he never 
allowed a complaint or murmur to escape him; he 
had already forgiven his oppressors. 

In his reading room he daily borrowed the 
strength which sustained his courage; whenever he 
left it, it was to give himself up to the details of 
an always uniform life, but always made more 
beautiful by numerous acts of kindness. 

He was pleased to treat me as if I had been 
more than his servant; he treated the municipal 
guards about his person as if he did not have to 
complain of them, and talked with them as he 
formerly did with his subjects. 

He spoke to them on matters relating to their 
trades, their families, their children, on the ad- 
vantages and duties of their positions. 

Those who heard him were astonished at the 
accuracy of his remarks, his varied knowledge and 
the manner in which it was classified in his mind. 



122 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

The aim of his conversation was not to divert 
his mind from his trouble. He was deeply sensi- 
tive, but his resignation was even superior to his 
misfortune. 

On Wednesday, December 19, breakfast was 
as usual brought to the king; not thinking of the 
Ember days, I offered it to him. 

"I fast to-day," said he to me. 

I took the breakfast back. 

"Following the example of your master, I sup- 
pose that you will fast also," said the guard, 
Dorat de Cubieres, in a mocking tone. 

"No, sir, I need my breakfast to-day," I replied. 

A few days after, His Majesty gave me a news- 
paper to read which had been brought to him by 
M. de Malesherbes, and in which this anecdote 
was printed, but wholly distorted. 

"Read," said His Majesty. "You will see that 
they call you malicious ; they would no doubt have 
preferred to call you a hypocrite." 

On the same day, the 19th, the king said to me 
while at dinner, in presence of three or four 
guards : 

"Just fourteen years ago you arose earlier than 
to-day." 

I immediately understood His Majesty. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 123 

"It was the day on which my daughter was 
born," continued the king. "To-day is the anni- 
versary of her birth, and I am deprived of the 
pleasure of seeing her!' , 

Tears came to his eyes and a moment of re- 
spectful silence followed. 

Madame Royale having asked for a small Court 
calendar, the king requested me to buy it and to 
secure for him the "Almanach de la Republique" 
which had taken the place of the "Almanach 
Royal." He went over it often and noted the 
names with a pencil. 

The king was soon to appear for the second 
time at the bar of the Convention. 

He had been unable to shave his beard since his 
razors had been taken away ; this made him suffer 
very much, and he was compelled to bathe his face 
with cold water several times a day. 

The king asked me to secure a pair of scissors 
or a razor, but that he did not wish to speak to 
the officials about the matter. 

I made free to remark that if he appeared thus 
in the Assembly, the people would at least see 
with what cruelty the General Council treated him. 

"I must not try to interest any one in my fate," 
replied His Majesty. 



124 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

I applied to the officials and the next day the 
Commune decided that the razors should be 
returned to the king, but that he should use them 
only in the presence of two guards. 

During the three days preceding Christmas the 
king wrote more than usual; it was at that time 
intended to have him remain at the Feuillants for 
a day or two so as to try him without adjournment. 

I had even been instructed to prepare myself 
to follow him and to get together whatever he 
might require, but this plan was changed. 

It was on Christmas Day that His Majesty 
wrote his will; I read it and copied it, at the time 
it was given to the Temple Council ; it was written 
in full in the king's handwriting, with a few 
erasures. 

I think it well here to reproduce this already 
celestial monument of his innocence and of his 
piety. 

u In the name of the Most Holy Trinity, of the 
Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. 

"To-day, the twenty-fifth day of December, 
one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, I, 
Louis XVI, by name, king of France, having been 
for the past four months imprisoned in the Tem- 
ple tower, in Paris, by those who were once my 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 125 

subjects, and deprived of all outside communica- 
tion and since the eleventh inst., even with my 
family, and moreover implicated in a case whose 
issue it is impossible to foresee, because of the 
passions of men, and for which one can find no 
pretext nor plea in any existing law. Having no 
one but God to witness my thoughts and to whom 
I can appeal, I hereby, in His presence, declare 
my last wishes and sentiments. 

"I leave my soul to God, my Creator, I pray 
Him to receive it in His mercy, not to judge it 
according to its merits but by those of Our Lord 
Jesus Christ who offered Himself as a sacrifice to 
God His Father for us men, however unworthy 
we may be, and me most unworthy of all. 

"I die in the union of our holy mother, the 
Catholic church, apostolic and Roman, which 
holds its powers by an uninterrupted succession 
from Saint Peter, to whom Jesus Christ had con- 
fided them. 

"I firmly believe and I confess all that is con- 
tained in the symbol and the commandments of 
God and the church, the sacraments and the mys- 
teries, as the Catholic church teaches them and has 
always taught them. 

"I have never claimed to judge of the different 



126 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

manners of explaining the dogmas which rend the 
church of Jesus Christ, but I have left it and shall 
always leave it, if God spare my life, to the de- 
cisions which the higher clergy, united to the holy 
Catholic church, give and shall give, conformably 
to the discipline of the church, followed since 
Jesus Christ. 

"With all my heart do I pity our brothers who 
may be in error ; but I do not claim to judge them, 
nor do I love all of them the less in Jesus accord- 
ing to that which Christian charity teaches us. 

"I pray God to forgive me all my sins; I have 
sought scrupulously to know them, to detest them 
and to humiliate myself in His presence. 

"Not being able to secure the services of a 
Catholic priest, I pray God to receive the con- 
fession which I have made to Him, and specially 
the deep regret which I have for having put my 
name (although against my will) to laws which 
may be contrary to the discipline and belief of the 
Catholic church to which I have always remained 
sincerely united in heart. 

"I pray God to receive my faithful promise, if 
He grant me life, to secure as soon as I shall be 
able the ministrations of a Catholic priest to accuse 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 127 

myself of my sins and receive the sacraments of 
repentance. 

"I pray those whom I may have inadvertently 
offended (for I do not recall ever having offended 
any one knowingly) , or those to whom I may have 
given bad examples, to forgive me the evil which 
they believe I may have done them; I request all 
those who have charity to unite their prayers to 
mine to obtain from God the pardon of my sins. 

"With all my heart do I pardon those who 
have made themselves my enemies, without my 
having given them any reason, and I pray that 
God may forgive them, as well as those who, 
through mistaken zeal, have done me great wrong. 

"I recommend to God my wife and my children, 
my sister, my aunts, my brothers, and all those 
who are connected with me through relationship 
or in any other manner. I pray God specially to 
look down in His mercy upon my wife, my chil- 
dren, and my sister, who have shared my suffering 
so long, to sustain them by His grace, if they 
should lose me, and as long as they remain in this 
miserable world. 

"I recommend my children to my wife; I have 
never doubted her maternal tenderness for them. 
Above all, I enjoin her to make good Christians 



128 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

and honest men of them, to teach them to look 
upon the grandeurs of this world (if they are 
condemned to bear them) as things dangerous 
and perishable, and to turn their eyes toward the 
only real and lasting glory of eternity. I request 
my sister kindly to continue her love to my chil- 
dren and to be a mother to them, should they be 
so unfortunate as to lose their own. 

"I beg my wife to forgive me for all the evils 
which she is suffering on my account, and for the 
sorrows which I may have caused her in the course 
of our union, just as she may be sure that I forgive 
her for anything of which she may have reason to 
reproach herself. 

"I especially enjoin my children, after what they 
owe to God, which is the first thing to be con- 
sidered, always to continue united among them- 
selves, to be submissive and obedient to their 
mother, and to be grateful for all the cares and 
troubles which she gives herself for them in 
memory of me. 

"I ask them to look upon my sister as on a 
second mother. 

"I enjoin upon my son, should he be so unfor- 
tunate as to become king, to bear in mind that he 
owes himself wholly to the happiness of his fel- 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 129 

low-citizens, that he must forget all hatred and all 
resentment, and all which has to do with the mis- 
fortunes and sorrows which I suffer; that he can 
only make the happiness of his people by reigning 
according to the laws; but at the same time that 
a king can make them respected, and do good, 
inasmuch as he has the necessary authority, and 
that otherwise, being hampered and inspiring no 
respect, he is more noxious than useful. 

"I urge upon my son to take care of all those 
who have been attached to me, to whatever extent 
the circumstances in which he may find himself 
will permit; to bear in mind that this is a sacred 
debt contracted toward the children or the rela- 
tives of those who have died for me, and also of 
those who are unfortunate because of me. 

"I know that there are several persons among 
those who were attached to me who have not acted 
toward me as they should have done, and who 
have even shown ingratitude, but I forgive them 
(often in moments of trouble and excitement one 
has no control over oneself), and I request my 
son, if the opportunity should offer, to think only 
of their misfortune. 

"I wish I could here prove my gratitude to 
those who have shown me a true and disinterested 



130 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

attachment; on the one hand, if I have been deeply 
affected by the ingratitude and perfidiousness of 
persons to whom I had bestowed but kindnesses, 
to them or their relatives or friends, on the other 
hand I have had the consolation of seeing the 
attachment and gratuitous interest which many 
persons have shown me. I beg them to accept 
my sincere thanks. 

"In the present condition of affairs I should be 
afraid to compromise them, should I be more 
explicit; but I especially urge upon my son to try 
to know them. 

"And yet I would feel as if I slandered the 
sentiments of the nation if I did not openly recom- 
mend to my son M. M. de Chamilly and Hue, 
whose real attachment- led them to share my prison 
with me and who almost became its unfortunate 
victims. 

"I also recommend to him, Clery, on whose 
services, ever since he has been with me, I have 
had every reason to congratulate myself. As it 
is he who has remained with me till the end, I 
request the gentlemen of the Commune to give 
him my clothes, my books, my watch, my purse 
and all other small articles which are deposited at 
the Council of the Commune. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 131 

"I also willingly forgive my guards their ill- 
treatment and the inconveniences to which they 
considered it their duty to put me. I found 
among these a few good-hearted and sympathetic 
souls; may these enjoy within their hearts the 
satisfaction which their way of thinking must give 
them. 

"I beg MM. de Malesherbes, Tronchet and 
de Seze to accept my thanks for the cares and 
troubles they have had on my account. 

"I end by declaring before God, and prepared 
to appear before Him, that I do not reproach 
myself for a single one of the crimes which are 
charged against me. 

"Written in duplicate, at the Temple Tower, 
December 25, 1792. 

("Signed) Louis." 

On the 26th of December the king was for the 
second time taken before the bar of the Assembly; 
I had had the queen notified so that the roll of 
the drums and movements of the troops should 
not frighten her. 

His Majesty left at ten o'clock in the morning, 
and returned at five o'clock at night, always under 
watch of Chambon and Santerre. 



i 3 2 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

MM. de Malesherbes, De Seze, and Tronchet 
came in the evening as the king left the table. 
He offered them some refreshments; M. de Seze 
alone accepted. 

His Majesty expressed his gratitude to him for 
the way in which he had delivered his speech ; the 
gentlemen then stepped into his study. 

The next day His Majesty was pleased to give 
me his printed defense, after having asked the 
officials if he could do so without being the cause 
of any trouble. 

Commissary Vincent, the building contractor, 
who rendered the royal family all the service 
which he could, took it upon himself to secretly 
bring a copy to the queen. 

He took advantage of the moment during which 
the king was thanking him for this little service to 
ask him for something which had belonged to 
him. His Majesty took off his cravat and made 
him a present of it. 

Another time, he gave his gloves to a guard 
who asked for them on the same plea. 

Even in the eyes of several of his keepers, these 
objects were already sacred! 

On the ist of January I approached the king's 
bed and in whispers asked for permission to offer 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 133 

him my most earnest wishes for the termination 
of his woes. 

"I accept your wishes," said he to me affec- 
tionately, holding out to me his hand, which I 
kissed and bathed with my tears. 

As soon as he was up, he requested a guard to 
go to inquire about the health of his family and 
to present them with his best wishes for the new 
year. 

The guards were moved by the tones in which 
these words were uttered. 

"Why," one of them said to me, when the king 
had returned to his room, "does he not ask to 
see his family? Now that the examination is 
ended, no objections would be made; you should 
apply to the Convention." 

The guard who had gone to the queen's apart- 
ment returned and informed His Majesty that his 
family thanked him for his wishes and sent their 
own. 

"What a New Year's day !" said the king. 

That same evening I ventured to tell him that 
I was almost certain of the Convention's consent 
if His Majesty should ask for permission to see 
his family. 



134 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

"In a few days," replied the king, "they will 
not refuse me this consolation; I must wait." 

The nearer the time of judgment approached, 
if such a term can be applied to the procedure to 
which the king was subjected, the more my fear 
and anguish increased; I questioned the guards a, 
thousand times and all I learned added to my 
terrors. 

My wife came to see me every week and brought 
me an exact account of all that was going on in 
Paris. 

Public opinion continued to appear favorable 
to the king; it even manifested itself with eclat 
at the Theatre Frangais and at that of the 
Vaudeville. 

At the first-named theater L! Ami des lots was 
being played; all allusions to His Majesty's trial 
were received and applauded with enthusiasm. 

At the Vaudeville, one of the characters in 
Chaste Suzanne said to the two old men: "How 
can you be both accusers and judges?" 

The public had this passage repeated several 
times. 

I gave the king a copy of L y Ami des lots. 

I often told him, and I had succeeded in almost 
believing it myself, that the members of the Con- 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 135 

vention, being opposed to each other, would only 
pronounce the sentence of confinement or exile. 

"May they," replied His Majesty, "show that 
moderation for my family; for them only do I 
fear." 

Some persons sent me word through my wife 
that a considerable sum deposited with M. Pari- 
seau, the editor of the Feaille du jour, was at the 
disposal of the king, that they begged me to ask 
the king's orders, and that the sum would be 
placed in the hand of M. de Malesherbes if His 
Majesty so desired. 

I imparted this information to the king. 

"Thank these persons very much for me," he 
replied. "1 cannot accept their generous offer; it 
would expose them." 

I begged him to at least mention the matter to 
M. de Malesherbes, which he promised. 

The correspondence between Their Majesties 
still continued. 

The king, informed that Madame Royale was 
ill, was very anxious for a few days. 

The queen, after many requests, obtained per- 
mission to have in the Temple the services of 
M. Brunier, physician to the children of France. 
This information seemed to quiet him. 



136 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

On Tuesday, the 15th of January, eve of the 
king's judgment, his counsels came as usual. 

MM. de Seze and Tronchet notified His Ma- 
jesty that they would not come the next day. 

On Wednesday the 16th M. de Malesherbes 
remained quite a long time with the king and said 
to His Majesty, on going out, that he would come 
to give an account of the roll-call as soon as he 
knew the result; but the meeting having been con- 
tinued far into the night, it was only on the morn- 
ing of the 17th that the decision was pronounced. 

On the same day, the 1 6th, at six o'clock in the 
evening, four municipal officials entered the king's 
room and read to him a decree of the Commune 
which stated in substance that he would be watched 
day and night by the afore-mentioned guards, and 
that two of these would spend the night at the 
side of his bed. 

The king asked if the judgment had been pro- 
nounced; one of these (du Roure) began by tak- 
ing a seat in the king's armchair while His 
Majesty remained standing. 

He then replied that he was not interested in 
what was going on at the Convention; but, how- 
ever, he had heard it said that the roll-call was still 
going on. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 137 

A few moments after, M. de Malesherbes 
entered, and announced to the king that the roll- 
call was not yet ended. 

About that time a fire started in one of the 
rooms occupied by the man who had charge of 
the wood for the Temple. 

A rather large crowd gathered in the yard. 

An official looking very much frightened came 
to tell M. de Malesherbes that he must withdraw 
at once. 

M. de Malesherbes left, after having promised 
the king that he would return to inform him of 
his judgment. 

"What's the cause of your fright?" I asked the 
official. 

"Fire has been set to the Temple," he replied. 
"It has been set on purpose so as to save Capet 
in the excitement; but I have had the walls sur- 
rounded by a strong force." 

Soon word came that the lire was out and that 
it was merely an accident. 

On Thursday, January 17th, M. de Males- 
herbes entered about nine o'clock in the morning. 
I went to meet him. 

"All is lost," said he to me, "the king is 
convicted." 



138 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

The king, who saw him enter, arose to receive 
him. 

This minister fell at his feet; he was choking 
with sobs and it was some time before he was able 
to speak. 

The king raised him and pressed him to his 
breast with affection. 

M. de Malesherbes announced the decree 
condemning him to death. The king showed 
neither surprise nor emotion at this ; he only seemed 
affected by the grief of that good old man and 
even strove to console him. 

M. de Malesherbes gave to His Majesty an 
account of the result of the roll-call. 

Accusers, relatives, personal enemies, laymen, 
priests, absent deputies, all had concurred; and in 
spite of this violation of all procedure, those who 
had voted death, some as a political measure, 
others claiming that the king was guilty, had only 
obtained a majority of five votes ; several deputies 
had only voted death with delay. 

A second roll-call had been ordered on the ques- 
tion ; it was to be presumed that the votes of those 
who wished to delay the carrying out of the 
regicide, added to those who were not in favor of 
capital punishment, would form the majority. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 139 

But at the doors of the Assembly, assassins, de- 
voted to the Duke d'Orleans and to the Paris dep- 
utation, frightened with their cries and threatened 
with their knives all those who refused to be their 
accomplices, and either through stupor or indiffer- 
ence, the Capital either dared not or would not 
undertake to do anything to save its king. 

M. de Malesherbes was about to go out; the 
king obtained permission to confer with him in 
private; he led him into his study, closed the door 
and remained with him about an hour. 

His Majesty saw him to the entrance door, 
again urged him to come early in the evening and 
not to abandon him in his last moments. 

"The grief of this good old man has greatly 
affected me," said the king as he entered his room, 
where I awaited him. 

From the time M. de Malesherbes had entered 
the room I had been seized with a chill. I, how- 
ever, prepared all things necessary so that the king 
might shave himself. 

He lathered his face himself; standing and fa- 
cing him I held the basin. 

Compelled to withhold my grief, I had not yet 
dared to cast my eyes on my unhappy master; by 



140 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

chance I looked at him, and in spite of everything 
the tears rolled down my face. 

I do not know whether the state in which I was, 
recalled to the king the position in which he was, 
but a sudden paleness appeared on his face; his 
nose and his eyes suddenly blanched. 

At this sight my knees gave way under me ; the 
king noticed my weakness, took my two hands, 
squeezed them with force, and said to me in an 
undertone: "Come, more courage!" 

He was being watched. I silently expressed all 
my grief to him; he seemed to appreciate it; his 
face brightened, he calmly shaved himself, then he 
dressed. 

His Majesty remained in his room until the 
dinner hour, engaged in reading or walking about. 

In the evening I saw him turn toward his study 
and followed him on pretext that he might require 
my services. 

"You have," said the king to me, "heard the 
account of my judgment?" 

"Ah, Sire," I said, "hope for a reprieve; M. 
de Malesherbes does not believe that it will be 
refused." 

"I seek no hope," replied the king, "but I am 
deeply grieved that Monsieur d'Orleans, my 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 141 

relative, should have voted for my death; read 
this list." 

He then handed me a list of the roll-call which 
he held in his hand. 

"The public," said I to him, "is complaining 
loudly. Dumouriez is in Paris. It is reported 
that he bears the protest of his army against the 
trial of Your Majesty. 

"The people are shocked at the infamous con- 
duct of Monsieur d'Orleans. 

"It is also rumored that the ministers of the 
foreign powers are going to assemble to go to the 
Assembly. 

"And lastly it is said that the members of the 
Convention fear a popular uprising." 

"I should be very sorry to have it take place," 
replied the king. "There would be new victims. 

"I do not fear death," added the king; "but I 
cannot face without trembling the cruel fate to 
which my family, the queen, and our unhappy 
children shall be left. 

"And those faithful servants who have not aban- 
doned me, these old men whose only means of 
subsistence was the small pension I allowed them; 
who will assist them ? 

"I see the people given up to anarchy, become 



142 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

the victims of all the factions, crime follow crime, 
and France torn by long strife." 

Then, after a moment of silence: 

"Oh! my God! was this to be the reward of all 
my sacrifices? 

u Had I not tried everything to assure the hap- 
piness of the French?" 

While uttering these w T ords, he pressed my 
hands. Penetrated with deepest respect, I bathed 
his with my tears : I had to leave him thus. 

Vainly did the king wait for M. de Malesherbes. 

In the evening he asked me if he had called. 
I had asked the guards the same question ; all had 
answered no. 

On Friday, the 18th, the king received no word 
from M. de Malesherbes. He was much worried 
about the matter. 

An old number of the Mercure de France 
having come to his hands, he read a riddle in it, 
which he gave me to solve; in vain did I seek the 
answer. 

"How! you cannot find it? and yet it is very 
applicable to me at this time," he said. "The 
word is 'sacrifice.' " 

The king ordered me to go to the library and 
find the volume of English History in which was 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 143 

the death of Charles I. He read it on the days 
following. 

I learned on this occasion that His Majesty had 
read two hundred and fifty volumes since his 
entrance in the Temple. 

In the evening I made free to remark that he 
could be deprived of his counsels only by order 
of the Convention and that he should ask that 
they be allowed to come to the tower. 

"Let us wait until to-morrow," replied the king. 

On Saturday, the 19th, at nine o'clock in the 
morning, an official named Gobeau entered, paper 
in hand. He was accompanied by the doorkeeper 
of the tower, named Mathey, who carried a writ- 
ing set. 

The official told the king that he had orders to 
take an inventory of the furniture and other 
effects. 

His Majesty left me alone with him and with- 
drew to the turret. 

Then, on pretext of taking an inventory, the 
official began to search with the most minute care, 
to make sure, he said, that no sharp weapon or 
instrument had been hidden in His Majesty's 
room. 

A small desk in which were papers still remained 



144 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

to be searched; the king was compelled to open 
all its drawers and remove and show each paper, 
one after the other. 

There were three rolls at the bottom of a 
drawer; they wanted to examine their contents. 

"It is," said the king, "money which does not 
belong to me; it belongs to M. de Malesherbes. 
I had prepared it to return it to him." 

The three rolls contained three thousand francs 
in gold; on each roll the king had written: To 
M. de Malesherbes. 

While the same search was going on in the 
turret, His Majesty entered his room and wanted 
to warm himself. 

Mathey, the doorkeeper, was at this moment in 
front of the fireplace, his hands underneath his 
coat-tails and his back to the fire. 

The king being able to warm himself with 
difficulty from the side, and the insolent fellow 
remaining in the same position, His Majesty 
rather sharply told him to move away. 

Mathey withdrew; the officials withdrew as 
soon as they had completed their search. 

In the evening the king told the guards to ask 
the Commune the reason why his counsel was not 




*^&a«« 









Malesherbes, the King's Counsel 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 145 

admitted to the tower, as he wished to confer at 
least, with M. de Malesherbes. 

They promised to speak of it, but one of them 
confessed that they had been forbidden to transmit 
any request from Louis XVI unless it was written 
and signed by me. 

"Why," replied the king, "have I been kept for 
the past two days in ignorance of this change?" 

He then wrote a note and handed it to the 
guards; it was delivered to the Commune only the 
next day. 

The king asked to be allowed to see his counsel 
freely, and complained of the order which kept 
him under watch day and night. 

"You must understand," he wrote to the Com- 
mune, "that in the position in which I am, it is 
very painful for me not to be able to be alone and 
not to have the solitude necessary to commune 
with myself." 

On Sunday, January 20, the king, as soon as he 
arose, asked the guards if they had communicated 
his request to the Council of the Commune. They 
assured him that it had been delivered at once. 

About ten o'clock I entered the king's room. 
He immediately said to me: 

"I see no signs of M. de Malesherbes." 

10 



146 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

"Sire," I said to him, "I have just heard that 
he called several times, but admission to the tower 
has on each occasion been refused him." 

"I shall know the reason of this refusal," 
replied the king. "The Commune will no doubt 
have come to a decision on my letter." 

He walked in his room, he read, he wrote, and 
thus passed the entire morning. 

Two o'clock had just struck, the door was sud- 
denly opened; it was the Executive Council. 

Twelve or fifteen persons presented themselves 
at once: Garat, Minister of Justice; Le Brun, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs; Grouvelle, secretary 
of the Council; the president and the attorney 
general of the Syndic of the Department, the 
mayor and the attorney of the Commune, the 
president and the public prosecutor of the criminal 
court. 

Santerre, who preceded the others, said: 

"Announce the Executive Council." 

The king, who had heard a great deal of noise, 
had risen and had advanced a few steps; but at 
sight of this cortege he remained between the door 
of his room and that of the antechamber in the 
most noble and imposing attitude. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 147 

I was at his side: Garat, with his hat on his 
head, spoke and said: 

"Louis, the National Convention has charged 
the Provisional Executive Council to transmit its 
decrees of January 15, 16, 17, 19 and 20; the 
secretary of the Council will read them to you." 

Then Grouvelle, the secretary, unfolded the 
decree and read in a feeble and trembling voice : 
"Decrees of the National Convention of January 
15, 16, 17, 19 and 20. 

Article I 

"The National Convention declares Louis 
Capet, last king of the French, guilty of con- 
spiracy against the liberty of the nation and of an 
attempt against the general safety of the state. 

Article II 

"The National Convention decrees that Louis 
shall suffer the penalty of death. 

Article III 

"The National Convention declares null and 
void Louis Capet's document, submitted to the bar 
by his counsels, called an appeal to the nation from 
the judgment pronounced against him by the Con- 



148 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

vention; forbids any one whomsoever to continue 
it, under penalty of being prosecuted and punished 
as guilty of an attempt against the general safety 
of the Republic. 

Article IV 

"The Provisional Executive Council will make 
known the present decree to Louis Capet, during 
the day, and will take the proper force and other 
measures necessary to assure its execution within 
twenty-four hours, dating from this notification, 
and will render an account of the whole to 
the National Convention, immediately after its 
execution." 

During this reading, not a change appeared on 
the king's face. 

I noticed only that in the first article, when the 
word conspiracy was mentioned, a smile of indig- 
nation appeared on his lips; but at the words shall 
suffer the penalty of death, a celestial glance which 
he cast on all about him told them that death held 
no terrors for the innocent. 

The king took a step towards Grouvelle, secre- 
tary of the Council, took the decree from his 
hands, folded it, drew his wallet from his pocket 
and placed it in it; then taking a paper from the 
same wallet, he said to minister Garat: 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 149 

"Monsieur the Minister of Justice, I beg you to 
transmit this letter to the National Convention at 
once." 

The minister seemed to hesitate; the king 
added : 

"I am going to read it to you." 

He read the following without faltering once : 

"I ask for a reprieve of three days so as to be 
able to prepare myself to appear before God; for 
that purpose I ask to be allowed to freely see the 
person whose name I shall furnish to the officials 
of the Commune, and that that person be safe 
from all prosecution for the act of charity he may 
perform for me. 

"I ask to be freed from the continual watch 
which the General Council has established for the 
past few days. 

"I ask that during that interval I be permitted 
to see my family whenever I ask, and in private; 
I should much like to have the National Conven- 
tion settle the future of my family at once and 
that it would allow them to go wherever they 
might see fit. 

"I recommend to the benevolence of the nation 
all persons who were attached to me; there are 
many who invested all their fortune in their posi- 



150 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

tions, and who, having no more salaries, must be 
in need; among the pensioners there are many old 
men, women and children who had only their 
pensions on which to live. 

"Done at the Temple tower the 20th of Janu- 
ary, 1792. 

("Signed) Louis." 

Garat took the king's letter and assured him 
that he would take it to the Convention. 

As he was going out, His Majesty again put 
his hand in his pocket, and drew from it his wallet 
and said: 

"Sir, if the Convention grants my request for 
the person whom I wish to see, here is his address." 

Then he gave it to the guard. 

That letter in a different handwriting than the 
king's, read: Monsieur Edgeworth de Firmont, 
No. 83, rue du Bac. 

The king took a few steps backward; the min- 
ister and those who accompanied him went out. 

His Majesty walked about the room for a few 
moments; I had remained against the door, stand- 
ing, with arms crossed as if deprived of con- 
sciousness. 

The king approached me. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 151 

"Clery," said he, "order my dinner." 

A few moments after, two guards called me 
into the dining room, they read an order to me, 
which said in substance that "Louis should not use 
a knife nor a fork at his meals, that a knife should 
be intrusted to his valet to cut his bread and meat 
in the presence of two guards, and that after this 
the knife should be taken away." 

The two guards requested me to notify the 
king; I refused to do so. 

On entering the dining room, the king saw the 
basket in which was the queen's dinner; he asked 
why his family had been kept waiting for an hour, 
adding that this delay might cause them worry. 

I sat down at the table. 

"I have no knife," said he to me. 

Minier, the guard, then announced to the king 
the Commune's order. 

"Do they think that I am cowardly enough to 
make an attempt upon my life? I am charged 
with crimes, but I am innocent of them, and shall 
die without fear; I wish that my death might 
mean the welfare of the French and that it might 
avert the calamities which I foresee." 

Great silence followed. 

The king ate but little; he cut the beef with his 



152 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

spoon, broke his bread. His meal lasted but a 
few minutes. 

I was in my room given up to the deepest grief 
when, about six o'clock in the evening, Garat 
returned to the tower. I went to announce to the 
king the return of the Minister of Justice. 

Santerre, who preceded him, approached His 
Majesty and said to him in an undertone and with 
a laughing air : 

"Here is the Executive Council." 

The minister, having advanced, said to the 
king that he had delivered his letter to the Con- 
vention, and that he had been requested to bear 
the following reply: "That Louis was free to send 
for any minister of religion whom he might see 
fit, and to see his family freely and without wit- 
nesses; that the nation, always noble and always 
just, would attend to his family; that the creditors 
of his house would be granted just indemnity; that 
the Convention had declined to grant his three 
days' reprieve." 

The king heard the reading without making 
any remark; he returned to his room and said to 
me: 

"I thought by Santerre's look that he was going 
to tell me that the reprieve had been granted." 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 153 

A young guard, named Botson, seeing the king 
speak to me, approached. 

"You have seemed to appreciate my misfor- 
tune/' said the king to him; "accept my thanks." 

The guard was surprised and knew not what 
to answer, and I myself was surprised at His 
Majesty's expression, for this official, hardly 
twenty-two years of age, with a gentle and inter- 
esting face, had said a few moments before: "I 
have asked permission to come to the Temple so 
as to see the grimace he will make to-morrow." 

He was speaking of the king. 

"And I," Merceraut, the stone-cutter, of whom 
I have already spoken, had replied. "Everybody 
was refusing to come, but I would not give up my 
day for a great deal of money." 

Such were the vile and brutal men selected by 
the Commune to guard the king in his last 
moments. 

The king had not seen his counsel for four days; 
those of his guards who had shown some feeling 
at his plight avoided approaching him. 

Of the numerous subjects of whom he had been 
the father, of the numerous Frenchmen whom he 
had overwhelmed with kindness, only one servant 
remained, sole confidant of his troubles. 



154 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

After the reading of the Convention's reply, 
the guards took the minister aside and asked him 
how the king was to see his family. 

"In private/' replied Garat "It is the inten- 
tion of the Convention." 

The guards then communicated to him the 
order of the Convention which enjoined them not 
to allow the king out of their sight, neither day 
nor night. 

It was agreed between the guards and the min? 
ister that in order to reconcile the two contrary 
decisions, the king should receive his family in the 
dining room, so as to be seen through the glass of 
the partition, but that the doors should be closed 
so that they could not be heard. 

The king recalled the Minister of Justice to ask 
him if he had sent word to M. de Firmont. 

Garat replied that he had brought him in his 
carriage; that he was in the Council Room, and 
that he would be up presently. 

His Majesty handed to an official called Baud- 
rais, who was talking with the minister, a sum of 
three thousand francs in gold, requesting him to 
return it to M. de Malesherbes to whom it 
belonged. 

The official promised to do so, but he im- 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 155 

mediately took it to the Council and this sum was 
never given to M. de Malesherbes. 

M. de Firmont appeared. The king made him 
step into the turret and went in with him. 

Garat having gone, only three guards remained 
in His Majesty's apartments. 

At eight o'clock the king came out of his study 
and asked the guards to take him to his family; 
the guards replied that this was impossible, but 
that they would ask them to come downstairs if he 
so desired. 

"Good!" said the king, u but I shall at least be 
allowed to see them alone in my room." 

"No," said one of them, "we have decided with 
the Minister of Justice that it must be in the 
dining room." 

"You have heard," replied His Majesty, "that 
the Convention's decree permits me to see them 
without witnesses." 

"That is true," said the guards, "you will be in 
private: the door shall be closed, but through the 
glass we shall have our eyes on you." 

"Tell my family to come downstairs," said 
the king. 

During the interval His Majesty entered the 
dining room; I followed him, put the table to one 



156 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

side and placed some of the chairs at the end of 
the room so as to give more space. 

"It would be well to bring a little water and a 
glass," said the king. 

There was a bottle of ice-water on the table. 
I brought only a glass and placed it near the 
bottle. 

"Bring some water without ice," said the king 
to me, "for if the queen should drink this, she 
might be made ill by it. 

"Please tell M. de Firmont," added His 
Majesty, "not to leave my study; I am afraid that 
sight of him will affect my family too much." 

The guard who had gone to notify the king's 
family, remained away a quarter of an hour; dur- 
ing that time the king returned to his study, 
coming to the entrance door from time to time, 
showing signs of the greatest emotion. 

At half-past eight o'clock the door opened : the 
queen first appeared, holding her son by the hand, 
then Madame Royale and Madame Elisabeth; all 
rushed into the king's arms. 

A mournful silence prevailed during a few 
minutes which was broken only by sobs. 

The queen made a motion as if to lead His 
Majesty towards his chamber. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 157 

"No," said the king, "let us step into this room. 
I can only see you there." 

They entered it and I closed the door, which 
was partly of glass. 

The king sat down, the queen at his left, 
Madame Elisabeth at his right, Madame Royale 
almost opposite, and the young prince remained 
standing between the king's knees: all were lean- 
ing toward him and often held him embraced. 

This painful scene lasted an hour and three 
quarters, during which time it was impossible to 
hear anything; one could see only that after every 
sentence of the king the sobs of the princesses 
redoubled, lasted a few minutes, and that then the 
king resumed speaking. 

It was easy to judge by their actions that he 
himself had announced his condemnation to them. 

At a quarter past ten, the king arose and all 
followed his example. I opened the door; the 
queen held the king by the right arm. 

Their Majesties each held one of Monsieur 
le Dauphin's hands; Madame Royale, on the left, 
had her arms around the king's waist; Madame 
Elisabeth, on the same side, but behind, had taken 
hold of her august brother's left arm. 



158 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

They took a few steps towards the entrance, 
uttering the most painful moans. 

"I assure you," said the king to them, u that I 
shall see you to-morrow morning at eight o'clock." 

"You promise it," they repeated all together. 

"Yes, I promise it." 

"Why not at seven o'clock?" said the queen. 

"Well then, yes; at seven o'clock," replied the 
king. "Adieu." 

He pronounced this "adieu" in so expressive a 
manner that the sobs redoubled. 

Madame Royale fell unconscious at the king's 
feet, whom she held embraced; I picked her up 
and I assisted Madame Elisabeth in supporting 
her. 

The king, wishing to put an end to this painful 
scene, embraced them most tenderly and had the 
strength to tear himself from their arms. 

"Adieu . . . adieu ..." said he, and he re- 
entered his room. 

The princesses returned to their apartment: I 
wished to continue to support Madame Royale, but 
the guards stopped me at the second step and 
compelled me to go back. 

When the two doors were closed, the cries and 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 159 

moans of the princesses continued to be heard out- 
side on the stairs. 

The king rejoined his confessor in the turret 
study. 

He came out again a half hour after, and I 
served the supper; the king ate little, but with 
appetite. 

After supper, His Majesty having returned to 
his study, his confessor came out soon after and 
asked the guards to be taken to the Council Cham- 
ber; it was to ask for ornaments and for all things 
necessary to say mass the next morning. 

It was with some difficulty that M. de Firmont 
succeeded in having his request granted. 

It was at a church of the Capuchin Friars, 
raised to a parish, that they sent for the objects 
necessary for the divine service. 

Having returned from the Council Chamber, 
M. de Firmont entered the king's room; both 
stepped into the turret and remained there until 
half-past twelve ; I then undressed the king and as 
I was about to do up his hair, he said to me: "It 
is not worth while ;" then, on getting into bed, as 
I was drawing the curtains: 

"Clery, wake me up at five o'clock." 

He was hardly in bed when deep sleep took 



160 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

possession of his senses : he slept until five o'clock 
without awaking. 

M. de Firmont, whom His Majesty had urged 
to take some rest, threw himself on my bed, and 
I spent the night on a chair, in the king's cham- 
ber, praying God to continue his strength and 
courage. 

I heard five o'clock strike, and I lit the fire; at 
the noise I made, the king awoke and said, while 
drawing his curtains: 

"Has five o'clock struck?" 

"Sire, it has struck on several outside clocks, 
but not on ours." 

The fire being lit, I approached his bed. 

"I have slept well," said the king to me. "I 
needed it: the events of yesterday had fatigued 
me. Where is M. de Firmont?" 

"On my bed." 

"And you, where did you spend the night?" 

"On that chair." 

"I am very sorry," said the king. 

"Ah, sire, can I think of myself at this 
moment?" 

He gave me one of his hands and pressed mine 
with affection. 

I helped the king to dress and arranged his 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 161 

hair: during that time he took a seal from his 
watch, placed it in the pocket of his waistcoat, 
put his watch on the mantelpiece; then drawing a 
ring from his finger, which he looked at several 
times, he placed it in the same pocket where he 
had put the seal, changed his shirt, put on a white 
waistcoat which he had on the night before, and 
I helped him on with his coat. 

He drew out of the pockets his wallet, his 
lorgnette, his snuff-box, and a few other things ; he 
also laid his purse on the mantelpiece; all this in 
silence and in the presence of several guards. 

Being dressed, the king requested me to tell 
M. de Firmont. I went to do so. He was 
already up; he followed His Majesty into his 
study. 

During that time I placed a bureau in the 
middle of the room and I arranged it as an altar 
to say mass. 

At two o'clock in the morning the necessary 
objects had been brought. 

I brought the priest's vestments to my room, 
and when all was arranged, I notified the king. 

He asked me if I could serve mass. I told him 
that I could, but that I did not know the responses 
by heart. 



162 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

He held a book in his hand, opened it, looked 
up the mass in it and handed it to me; he then 
took another book. 

During that time the priest was dressing. 

In front of the altar I had placed an armchair 
and a large cushion on the floor for His Majesty; 
the king made me take away the cushion, he him- 
self went to his study and brought back a smaller 
one, stuffed with horsehair, which he usually used 
to say his prayers. 

As soon as the priest entered, the guards with- 
drew to the antechamber and I partly closed the 
door. 

Mass began at six o'clock. 

During this sacred ceremony, great silence 
prevailed. 

The king, always kneeling, heard mass wrapped 
in pious meditation, and in the noblest attitude. 

His Majesty took communion; after the mass 
the king stepped into his study, and the priest 
went into my room to take off his vestments. 

I took advantage of that moment to enter the 
king's study; he grasped my two hands and said 
to me with great emotion: 

"Clery, I am pleased with what you have done 
for me !" 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 163 

"Ah, sire," said I, falling at his feet, "why can- 
not my death disarm your persecutors and save to 
France a life so precious to all Frenchmen? 
Hope, sire, they will not dare to strike." 

"Death does not frighten me, I am prepared 
for it; but you," he continued, "do not expose 
yourself. I am going to ask that you be allowed 
to remain with my son. Take the greatest care 
of him in this awful place; be sure to tell him of 
all the sorrow I feel at his unfortunate plight; 
some day, perhaps, he may be able to reward your 
zeal." 

"Ah, my master, my king, if the most absolute 
devotion, if my zeal and my care have pleased 
you, the only reward I ask from Your Majesty is 
to receive your blessing; do not refuse it to the 
last Frenchman who has remained in your service." 

I was still at his feet, holding one of his hands; 
in that position he granted my request, gave me 
his blessing, then raised me and pressing me to 
his breast, said: 

"Share it with all those who are attached to 
me; tell Turgy that I am satisfied with him. 

"Go back," added the king, "give them no 
reason to suspect you." 



164 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

Then, calling me back, he took from the table 
a paper which he had placed on it. 

"Here is a letter which Petion wrote to me 
when you came to the Temple. It may be of use 
to you to remain here." 

I again seized his hand, which I kissed, and 
left the study. 

"Adieu," he said, "adieu! . . ." 

I returned to my room and there found M. de 
Firmont kneeling in front of my bed and saying 
his prayers. 

"What a prince!" said he to me, on rising. 
"With what resignation, with what courage he is 
going to his death ! He is as calm as if he had 
just heard mass in his palace and in the midst of 
his court." 

"I have just received the most touching fare- 
well from him," said I. "He condescended to 
promise me to ask that I be allowed to remain 
with his son ; when he comes out, Monsieur, I beg 
you to remind him of this, for I shall not again 
be so fortunate as to see him in private." 

"Do not worry," replied M. de Firmont, and 
he rejoined His Majesty. 

At seven o'clock the king came out of his study, 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 165 

called me, and leading me to a recess of the win- 
dow, he said: 

"You are to give this seal to my son . . . this 
ring to the queen; be sure to tell her that I take it 
off with sorrow. . . . This small package con- 
tains hair of my whole family: you will give it to 
her also. . . . 

"Tell the queen, my dear children, and my 
sister, that I had promised to see them this morn- 
ing, but that I thought it best to spare them the 
grief of so cruel a separation. How painful it 
is to me to go without embracing them for the 
last time! . . ." 

He dried a few tears, then added with the 
greatest feeling: 

"I leave it to you to say farewell to them for 
me . . ." 

He immediately returned to his study. 

The guards, who were near, had heard His 
Majesty and had seen him give me the different 
objects which I still held in my hands. 

They told me to give these to them, but one of 
them proposed that I be allowed to continue 
custodian until the decision of the Council; this 
suggestion was accepted. 

An hour after, the king came out of his study. 



i66 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

"Ask if I may have a pair of scissors," he said 
to me. He then went in again. 

I applied to the guards. 

u Do you know what he wishes to do with 
them?" 

"I do not." 

"You must find out." 

I knocked at the study door ; the king came out. 

A guard who had followed me said to him: 

"You have asked for scissors, but before apply- 
ing to the Council I must know for what purpose 
you wish them." 

His Majesty replied: "I want them so that 
Clery may cut my hair." 

The guards withdrew; one went down to the 
Council Chamber, where, after a half hour's 
deliberation, the scissors were refused. 

The guard returned and announced the decision 
to the king. 

"I should not have touched the scissors," said 
His Majesty, "I should have liked to have had 
Clery cut my hair in your presence ; I beg you, sir, 
to again present my request." 

The guard returned to the Council, who per- 
sisted in their refusal. 

It was then that I was told to get ready to 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 167 

accompany the king to help him off with his coat 
on the scaffold. 

On hearing this I was seized with terror; but 
mustering all my strength, I prepared myself to 
perform this last duty to my master, to whom this 
assistance, usually given by the executioner, was 
repugnant, when a guard came to tell me that I 
should not go out, and added: "The executioner 
is good enough for him." 

Paris had been under arms since five o'clock in 
the morning; one could hear the beating of the 
general, the noise of arms, the clatter of horses' 
hoofs, the dragging of cannon, whose positions 
were being changed incessantly. All resounded 
in the tower. 

At nine o'clock the noise increased, the doors 
open violently ; Santerre, accompanied by seven or 
eight officials, enters at the head of ten gendarmes 
whom he stands in two lines. 

At this noise the king came out of his study. 

"You come for me?" said he to Santerre. 

"Yes." 

"Excuse me for a minute." And he returned 
to the turret. 

His Majesty came out immediately; his con- 
fessor followed him. 



168 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

The king held his will in his hand, and address 
ing himself to an official named Jacques Roux, a 
renegade priest, who happened to be standing in 
front of the others: 

"Kindly give this paper to the queen, my wife." 

"That does not concern me," replied the man, 
refusing to take the paper. "I am here to con- 
duct you to the scaffold." 

His Majesty then turned to Gobeau, another 
official. 

"Please give this paper to my wife; you may 
read it ; there are certain matters in it which I 
wish the Commune to know." 

I was behind the king, near the fireplace. He 
turned towards me and I offered him his coat. 

"I do not need it," he said, "give me my hat 
only." 

I gave it to him. His hand met mine and he 
pressed it for the last time. 

"Gentlemen," said he, turning to the officials, 
"I would like that Clery remain with my son, who 
is accustomed to his cares; I hope that the Com- 
mune will grant this request." 

Then turning to Santerre, said: 

"Let us go." 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 169 

These were the last words he uttered in his 
apartment. 

At the entrance to the stairs he met Mathey, 
doorkeeper of the tower, and said to him : 

"I was somewhat sharp with you day before 
yesterday; do not be angry with me." 

Mathey did not reply and even pretended to 
withdraw when the king spoke to him. 

I remained alone in the room, overcome with 
grief and almost unconscious. 

The drums and trumpets announced that the 
king had left the tower. 

An hour after, volleys of artillery and cries of 
"Vive la Nation ! Vive la Republique !" were 
heard. 

The best of kings was no more ! 



THE LAST HOURS OF LOUIS XVI 

By his confessor 
L'ABBE EDGEWORTH DE FIRMONT 

The king's fate had not yet been decided, when 
M. de Malesherbes, whom I had not the honor 
of knowing personally, being unable to receive me 
at his house or call at mine, made an appointment 
with me at the home of a third party: the meeting 
took place at Madame de Senozan's. 

There, M. de Malesherbes handed me a mes- 
sage from the king, in which the unfortunate 
monarch asked me to aid him in preparing for 
death: the heinousness of men reduced him to this 
extremity. 

This message was couched in terms which I 
should make it my duty to suppress if they did 
not show the true nature of the prince whose last 
moments I describe. 

His considerateness went so far as to call by 
the name of favor the service which he requested 
of me; he asked it as a last token of my attach- 
ment for him; he hoped that I should not refuse 
him ; it was only in case I should lack the necessary 

171 



172 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

courage that he permitted me to substitute another 
clergyman in my place, and he was even kind 
enough to leave the choice to me. 

Such a message would, no doubt, have been 
considered a very pressing invitation by any one 
else; I looked upon it as an absolute order; and 
requested M. de Malesherbes to convey to His 
Majesty, if he still had the means to do so, all 
that a tender and afflicted heart at that time 
dictated to me. 

A few days passed ; and hearing nothing further, 
I rejoiced in the hope of a deportation, or at least 
in a reprieve, when on the 20th of January, about 
four o'clock in the afternoon, an unknown person 
came to my house and handed me a note from the 
Provisional Executive Council, worded as follows : 

"The Executive Council, having a matter of 
the greatest importance to impart to Citizen 
Edgeworth de Firmont, invites him to call for a 
moment at its meeting-place." 

The unknown added that he had orders to 
accompany me and that a carriage awaited me in 
the street. 

I went down and left with him. 

On reaching the Tuileries, where the Council 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 173 

held its meetings, I found all the members present. 

Consternation was on their faces. 

As soon as I appeared they arose and sur- 
rounded me with a sort of eagerness. The Minis- 
ter of Justice addressed me : 

"Are you," said he, "Citizen Edgeworth de 
Firmont?" 

"Yes," I replied. 

"Louis Capet," continued the minister, "having 
expressed to us the desire of having you near him 
in his last moments, we have sent for you to find 
out if you consent to render him the service which 
he asks." 

I replied: "Since the king expresses that desire 
and mentions me by name, to go to him is a duty." 

"If that is the case," added the minister, "come 
with me to the Temple, for I am going there now." 

He then took a bundle of papers from his desk, 
consulted in a low tone with his colleagues, and 
going out suddenly, ordered me to follow. 

An escort of mounted guard awaited us down- 
stairs with the minister's carriage; I entered it, 
and he entered after me. 

I wore lay clothes, as did at that time all the 
Catholic clergy of Paris; but thinking of what, on 
the one hand, I owed the king, who was not 



174 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

familiar with such a garb, and on the other, of 
what I owed to the religion itself which for the 
first time received a sort of homage from this new 
government, I thought I had the right, on this 
occasion, to again assume the habiliments of my 
profession, at least to make the attempt; I looked 
upon it as a duty. 

I therefore spoke about it to the minister 
before we left the Tuileries, but he rejected my 
proposition in terms which, without being offen- 
sive, discouraged me from insisting. 

The trip from the Tuileries to the Temple took 
place in the most gloomy silence; two or three 
times, however, the minister tried to break it. 

"Grand Dieu !" cried he, after having raised 
the windows of his carriage, "with what an awful 
duty I find myself charged!" 

"What a man !" added he, speaking of the king, 
"what resignation! what courage! 

"No, nature alone could not give such strength; 
there is something superhuman in this." 

Such admissions gave me a very natural open- 
ing to enter into conversation with him, and to tell 
him terrible truths. 

I hesitated a moment as to what I should do; 
but thinking, on the one hand, that my first duty 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 175 

was to bring to the king the religious assistance 
which he asked for, and that a conversation 
strongly carried on, as this should be, might pre- 
vent me from fulfilling that duty, I decided to 
maintain absolute silence. 

The minister appeared to understand all that 
the silence told him, and did not again open his 
lips throughout the remainder of the trip. 

We thus arrived at the Temple hardly having 
spoken to one another, and the first door was at 
once opened to us; but having reached the build- 
ing which separates the court from the garden, 
we stopped. It was, I think, a general regulation 
that before passing beyond this point the guards 
of the tower had to examine the persons and know 
what business brought them to the place. 

The minister himself, as well as I, was sub- 
jected to this formality. 

Without speaking, we waited for the guards 
nearly a quarter of an hour. At last they 
appeared. 

One of these was a youth between seventeen 
and eighteen years of age; they bowed to the 
minister as to an acquaintance. The latter told 
them in a few words who I was and what was my 
mission. 



176 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

They made signs for me to follow them, and 
together we crossed the garden which leads to the 
tower. 

Here the scene became awful: the door of the 
tower, although very small and low, opened with 
a frightful noise, so laden was it with bolts and 
iron bars. 

We passed through a room filled with guards 
into a larger one, which, by its shape, appeared to 
have at one time been a chapel. 

There, the commissaries of the Commune 
entrusted with the charge of the king were 
assembled. 

I was far from noticing in their faces the 
expression of consternation and embarrassment 
which had struck me in that of the minister. 

They were about twelve in number, the ma- 
jority dressed as jacobins. 

Their looks, their manners, their calmness, all 
announced atrocious beings whom the sight of the 
greatest crimes could not appall. 

However, I owe it to truth to say that this por- 
trait did not suit them all, and that in the number 
I thought I saw a few whom weakness alone had 
led into this place of horror. 

However that may be, the minister took them 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 177 

all indiscriminately into a corner of the room and 
read to them in a low tone the papers which he 
had brought from the Tuileries. 

The reading finished, he turned around sud- 
denly and told me to follow him. The Council 
objected to this. 

They assembled for the second time in a corner 
of the room, deliberating in whispers for a few 
moments; and the result of the deliberation was 
that one half of the Council was to accompany the 
minister, while the other half would remain behind 
to watch me. 

When they had separated, and the doors of the 
room had been carefully closed, the oldest com- 
missary approached me with a kind but em- 
barrassed air; he spoke to me of my terrible 
responsibility, apologized a thousand times for 
the liberty which he was going to be obliged to 
take, etc., etc. 

I understood that this preamble would end by 
my being searched, and I forestalled him by say- 
ing that as the reputation of M. de Malesherbes 
had not exempted him from that formality, I had 
not flattered myself, on coming to the Temple, that 
an exception would be made in my case; that, 
besides, I had nothing suspicious in my pockets, 
12 



178 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

and that it depended on him alone to assure him- 
self of the fact. 

In spite of this declaration, I was rather 
rigorously searched. 

My snuff-box was opened, the tobacco was 
tested; a small steel pencil which happened to be 
in my pocket was scrupulously examined, for fear 
that it should contain a dagger. 

As to the papers which I had on my person, 
they paid no attention to them, and everything 
else being satisfactory, they resumed the excuses 
by which they had begun, and I was invited to 
take a seat; but I had hardly done so when two 
commissaries, who had gone up to the king's apart- 
ments, came down to tell me that I was at last 
allowed to see him. 

They led me up a spiral staircase so narrow 
that two persons could pass each other with 
difficulty. 

At even distances this staircase was crossed by 
gates and at each one of these was a sentry on 
guard. 

These sentries were true sansculottes, almost 
always intoxicated, and the awful shouts to which 
they gave vent, repeated by the vaults of the 
Temple, had something truly frightful in them. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 179 

Having reached the king's room, the doors of 
which were all open, I perceived the prince in the 
midst of a group of eight or ten persons. 

It was the Minister of Justice, Garat the 
younger, accompanied by a few members of the 
Commune who had just read to him the fatal 
decree which irrevocably set the next day as that 
of his death. 

He was among them, calm, tranquil, even pleas- 
ant, and not one of those who surrounded him 
seemed so much at ease as he. 

As soon as I appeared he made with his hand a 
sign for them to withdraw ; they obeyed in silence ; 
and himself closing the door after them, I re- 
mained alone with him. 

Until then I had succeeded in mastering my 
emotion, but at sight of this prince, formerly so 
great and now so unfortunate, I was no longer 
able to hold back my tears ; they coursed down my 
face and I fell at his feet unable to express my 
grief in any other way. 

This sight moved him a thousand times more 
than the decree just read to him. 

At first he only replied to my tears by his own, 
but soon recovering his equanimity, 

"Pardon," said he to me, "pardon this weak- 



180 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

ness, if, however, it may be thus called; for a long 
time I have been living in the midst of my enemies 
and habit has in a manner made them familiar 
to me; but the sight of a faithful subject appeals 
differently to my heart; it is a sight to which my 
eyes are no longer accustomed and it affects me in 
spite of myself." 

Saying these words, he raised me with kindness 
and ushered me into his study so as to converse 
more freely; for from his room everything could 
be heard. 

This study was in one of the turrets of the 
Temple. There were no tapestries nor orna- 
ments in it; a wretched porcelain stove served as 
a fireplace, and the only furniture seen there were 
a table and three leather chairs. 

There, making me sit near him : 

"So now, monsieur," said he to me, "comes 
the great affair which must possess me entirely: 
alas! the only important one. For what are all 
other affairs in comparison to this one? But I 
ask for a few moments of respite, for my family 
will be down presently. 

"In the meantime, here is a paper; I am very 
glad to submit it to you." At the same time he 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 181 

drew from his pocket a sealed paper of which he 
broke the seal. 

It was his will, which he had made in December, 
that is to say, at a time when he doubted whether 
he would be allowed to have a Catholic priest to 
assist him in his last moments and in his last 
combat. 

All those who have read this most interesting 
document, so worthy of a Christian king, will 
easily imagine the deep impression which it pro- 
duced upon me; but that which will no doubt 
astonish them is that that prince had the strength 
to read it himself and to read it twice. 

His voice was firm and the expression of his 
face changed only when he uttered the names dear 
to him. 

Then all his tenderness was aroused; he was 
compelled to stop, and his tears flowed in spite of 
him; but when he alone and his sorrows were in 
question, he appeared no more moved than men 
usually are on hearing the ills of others. 

This reading being ended and the royal family 
not yet having come down, he hastened to ask 
about his clergy and the actual condition of the 
Church of France. 

In spite of the strict prison rules, he had heard 



182 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

something about them; he knew in a general way 
that the French ecclesiastics, obliged to leave their 
native land, had been received in London, but he 
was totally ignorant of the details. 

Those which I made it my duty to impart to 
him made a deep impression on him and while 
grieving over the lot of the clergy of France, he 
rendered repeated homage to the generosity of the 
English people who strove to mitigate it. 

But he did not confine himself to these general 
questions, and soon coming to details which aston- 
ished me, he made inquiries about several church- 
men in whom he seemed to take a particular 
interest. 

Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld and the Bishop 
of Clermont seemed specially to interest him; but 
his attention increased at the name of the Arch- 
bishop of Paris. He asked where he was, what 
he did and if I had means of corresponding with 
him. 

"Point out to him," said he to me, "that I die 
in his communion, and that I have never recog- 
nized another pastor. 

u Alas ! I fear that he may be somewhat angry 
with me for not having replied to his last letter; I 
was still at the Tuileries ; but in truth, events were 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 183 

rushing so about me at that time that I found no 
time to do it. 

"But he will forgive me, I am sure of it, he is 
so good." 

He also had a word for the Abbe of F . 

The king had never seen him, but he knew of 
all the services which this venerable priest had 
rendered to the diocese of Paris during the hardest 
times. 

He asked me what had become of him; and on 
my telling him that he had been fortunate enough 
to escape, he spoke of him in terms which showed 
me all the importance which he attached to his 
being safe and his esteem for his virtues. 

The conversation turned to the Duke d'Orleans. 

"What have I done to my cousin," said he, 
"that he should be so against me? . . . But why 
be angry with him ? He is more to be pitied than 
I. My position is a sad one, no doubt, but were 
it even more so, no, I certainly should not change 
with him." 

This interesting conversation was interrupted 
by one of the commissaries who came to announce 
to the king that his family had come down and 
that he could at last see them. 



1 84 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

At these words he appeared much affected and 
quickly left the study. 

The interview took place (as far as I was able 
to judge, for I was not a witness to it) in a small 
room which was separated from the one occupied 
by the guards only by a glass partition, so that 
they could see and hear everything. 

I myself, although confined in the study where 
the king had left me, easily recognized the voices, 
and in spite of myself I was a witness to the most 
touching scene which my ears ever heard. 

No, never can pen express what there was tragic 
in it; for more than a half hour not a word was 
uttered, — there were not only tears and sobs, but 
cries sufficiently piercing to be heard outside of the 
tower. 

The king, the queen, Madame Elisabeth, Mon- 
sieur le Dauphin and Madame Royale lamented 
together and their voices seemed to mingle. 

At last the tears ceased because no more strength 
remained to shed them ; they spoke to one another 
in whispers and quite calmly. 

The conversation lasted about an hour and the 
king dismissed his family, giving them the hope of 
seeing him the next day. 

He immediately returned to me, but in a state 




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IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 185 

of trouble and agitation which showed how deeply 
affected he was. 

"Ah! monsieur," said he, as he threw himself 
into a chair, "what an interview I have just had! 
Must I then love and be thus tenderly loved ! 

"But it is all over, let us forget everything else 
so as to think only of our salvation. This alone 
should at this moment concentrate all my affection 
and thoughts." 

He was continuing to speak thus in words which 
showed his goodness and courage when Clery 
came to suggest that he partake of some supper. 

The king hesitated an instant, but after reflect- 
ing he accepted the offer. 

This supper did not last more than ten minutes, 
and having returned to his study, he proposed that 
I take some supper, too. 

I was hardly in the mood to do so, but so as not 
to offend him I thought it well to obey, or at least 
to pretend to obey. 

For a long time a thought had been in my mind. 
It possessed me even more now that I saw the 
king more closely : it was to secure for him at any 
cost the holy communion of which he had so long 
been deprived. 

I could have brought it to him by stealth, as it 



186 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

was then necessary to do for all the faithful who 
were kept in their homes; but the careful search 
which one had to undergo on entering the Temple 
and the profanation that would undoubtedly have 
followed, were more than sufficient reasons to 
prevent me from doing so. 

All that was then left for me to do was to say 
mass in the king's room, if I could find the means. 

I proposed this to him, but at first he seemed 
frightened at it; however, as he felt the full value 
of this, as he earnestly desired it and as all his 
opposition came from the fear that the request 
might compromise me, I begged him to give me 
carte blanche, promising to be prudent and discreet. 

He finally consented. 

u Go ahead, monsieur," said he, "but I fear that 
you will not succeed; for I know the men with 
whom you have to deal. They grant only that 
which they cannot refuse." 

Provided with this permission, I asked to be 
taken to the Council Chamber, and I made my 
request in the king's name. 

This proposition, for which the commissaries 
of the tower were not prepared, disconcerted them 
extremely ; they sought various pretexts to elude it. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 187 

"Where could a priest be found at this hour?" 
said they to me. 

"And even though one should be found, where 
could the ornaments be procured?" 

"The priest is already found," I replied, "since 
I am here ; and as to the ornaments, the neighbor- 
ing church will supply them; it is only a question 
of sending for them; besides, my request is a just 
one, and it would be acting against your principles 
to refuse me." 

One of the commissaries at once began to speak 
and (although in guarded terms) made it clearly 
understood that my request might be but a sub- 
terfuge, and that on the pretext of giving com- 
munion to the king, I could poison him. 

"History," said he, "gives us enough examples 
to cause us to be careful." 

I merely looked straight in the man's face and 
said: 

"The careful search to which I submitted on 
entering here must have proved to you that I 
carry no poison on my person; if then some should 
be found to-morrow, it would be from you that 
it would have come, since all that I ask for is to 
pass through your hands." 

He wanted to retort, but his colleagues silenced 



188 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

him and as a last subterfuge they told me that the 
Council not being complete, they could take noth- 
ing upon themselves, but that they would send for 
the absent members and that they would notify me 
of the result of the deliberation. 

A quarter of an hour was taken up in getting 
the members together and deliberating. 

At the end of that time I was brought in again 
and the president addressed me as follows: 

"Citizen minister of the cult, the Council has 
taken into consideration the request which you 
have made to it in the name of Louis Capet, and 
it has been resolved that the request is in accord- 
ance with the laws which declare that all worship 
is free. It will be granted. 

"However, we grant this on two conditions: 
the first being that you will at once make the 
request in writing and sign it; the second that the 
services of your cult will be ended by seven o'clock 
at the latest, because at eight o'clock, sharp, Louis 
Capet is to leave for the place of his execution." 

These last words, like the rest of them, were 
uttered with a coolness which showed a heartless 
being who looked forward without remorse to the 
commission of the greatest of crimes. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 189 

I put my request in writing and I left it on the 
desk. 

I was immediately taken back to the king, who 
was anxiously awaiting the issue of this affair; and 
the brief account which I gave him, while sup- 
pressing all the circumstances, appeared to give 
him the greatest pleasure. 

It was more than ten o'clock. 

I remained with His Majesty until far into the 
night, but seeing that he was tired, I proposed 
that he take some rest. 

He consented to this with his usual kindness 
and urged me to do the same. 

By his order I went into a small room occupied 
by Clery; it was separated from that of the king 
by a partition only; and while I gave myself up 
to the most grievous thoughts, I heard that prince 
calmly give his orders for the next day, and after- 
wards go to bed and sleep soundly. 

As early as five o'clock the king dressed himself 
as usual. 

Shortly after, he sent for me, and conversed 
with me nearly an hour in the study where he had 
received me the evening before. 

On coming out of the study, I found an altar 
standing in the king's room. 



190 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

The commissaries had carried out to the very 
letter all that I had asked of them; they had even 
gone beyond my wishes, for I had asked only for 
the things necessary. 

The king heard mass kneeling on the floor, 
without devotion chair or cushion; he took com- 
munion there. I then left him a few minutes so 
that he might finish his prayers. 

Soon he sent for me again and I found him 
seated near the stove and having trouble to get 
warm. 

"Mon Dieu!" said he, "how happy I am to 
have retained my principles! Without them 
where should I be now? But with them, how 
easy death appears to me. 

"Yes, there exists above an incorruptible judge 
who will surely render me the justice which men 
here below refuse me." 

The ministry which I filled near the king only 
allows me to quote odd fragments of the different 
conversations which he had with me during his 
last sixteen hours; but, by the little I quote, one 
can judge of all that I might add if it were per- 
mitted me to say all. 

Daylight began to dawn, and already in all 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 191 

quarters of Paris the beating of the general could 
be heard. 

This extraordinary animation could be heard 
distinctly in the tower, and I confess that it chilled 
the blood in my veins, but the king, more calm 
than I, after having listened a moment, said with- 
out emotion: 

"The national guard is probably being as- 
sembled." 

Shortly after some detachments of cavalry 
entered the Temple court, and the voices of officers 
and the clatter of hoofs could be heard distinctly. 

The king again listened and said to me with the 
same calmness: 

"They seem to be approaching." 

He had promised the queen, on seeing her to 
the door, that he would see her the next day. 
Listening only to his heart, he wished to keep his 
word to her, but I earnestly begged him not to put 
her through an ordeal which she would not have 
the strength to bear. 

He stopped a moment and with an expression 
of deepest grief he said to me: 

"You are right, it would be the death of her; it 
is better to deprive myself of this sweet consola- 
tion and let her live in hope a few moments more." 



192 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

From seven to eight o'clock persons came fre- 
quently on different pretexts to knock at the door 
of the study where I was with the king, and each 
time I trembled for fear it should be the last; but 
the king, more firm than I, arose without emotion, 
went to the door and calmly replied to the persons 
who came thus to interrupt us. 

I do not know who these persons were, bi 
among them there certainly was one of the greatest 
monsters to whom the Revolution had given birth 
for I heard him very distinctly say to the pr 
in a mocking tone (I know not for what reason) : 

"Oh ! oh ! all that was very fine when you were 
king, but you are no longer king." 

The king did not answer a word, but returned 
to me and, shrugging his shoulders, said simply: 

"You see how these people treat me, but one 
must know how to suffer everything." 

Another time, after having replied to one of 
the commissaries who had come to interrupt him, 
he returned to the study and smilingly told me : 

"These people see daggers and poison every- 
where; they fear that I shall kill myself. Alas! 
they do not know me; to kill myself would be 
weakness; no, since I must, I shall know how to 
die." 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 193 

At last they knocked at the door for the last 
time; it was Santerre and his company. 

The king again opened his door and they an- 
nounced to him (I could not hear in what terms) 
that he had to go to his death. 

"I am busy," he said to them with authority; 
"wait for me here. I shall be with you presently." 
frt Saying this, he closed the door and came to 
throw himself at my feet. 

"All is ended," said he to me; "monsieur, give 

, your last blessing and pray God that He may 
sustain me until the end." 

He soon arose, left his study, and advanced 
towards the company which was in the middle of 
the bedroom. 

The faces of the company showed anything but 
assurance; all however had their hats on their 
heads. 

The king perceived this and immediately asked 
for his. 

While Clery, all in tears, went to get it: 

"Is there among you any member of the Com- 
mune?" asked the king. "I charge him with the 
delivery of this paper." 

It was his will, which one of the group took 
from the king's hand. 
13 



194 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

"I also recommend to the Commune, Clery, my 
valet, for whose services I have nothing but praise. 

"You will see to it that my watch and my effects, 
those that are here as well as those that are 
deposited with the Commune, be given to him. 
I also desire that as a reward for the attachment 
he has shown me, he be transferred to the service 
of the queen, of my wife" (for the king said 
both). 

No one answering: "Let us go," said the king 
in a firm tone. 

At these words the entire company filed out. 

The king crossed the first court (formerly the 
garden) on foot; he turned once or twice toward 
the tower as if to bid farewell to those dearest to 
him here below; at the movement he made one 
could see that he was mustering together all his 
strength and courage. 

At the entrance of the second court was a public 
carriage; two gendarmes held the door. 

At the king's approach, one of these entered 
first and took a seat in the front; the king then 
entered and placed me by his side in the back; the 
other gendarme jumped in last and closed the 
door. 

I have been assured that one of these two men 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 195 

was a priest in disguise; I trust, for the honor of 
the priesthood, that this be a fable. 

It is also stated that these men had orders to 
assassinate the king at the least disturbance they 
might notice among the people. 

I do not know if these were their orders; but it 
seems to me that unless they had other weapons 
on their persons beside those that could be seen, 
it would have been very hard for them to carry 
out their plan; for only their guns could be seen 
and it was impossible for them to make use of 
these. 

Besides, this disturbance which they feared was 
anything but a chimera. A great number of per- 
sons devoted to the king had resolved to take him 
away from his executioners by main force, or at 
least to dare all to accomplish that end. 

Two of the principal actors, young men whose 
names were well known, had come to inform me 
of this the day before, and I confess that, although 
not having much hope, I cherished a little of it 
even to the foot of the scaffold. 

I have learned since that the orders for this 
awful morning had been conceived with so much 
art and carried out with such precision, that out 
of four or five hundred persons who had devoted 



196 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

themselves to their prince, twenty-five only had 
succeeded in reaching the meeting-place. 

All the others, through the measures taken as 
early as daybreak in all the streets of Paris, were 
not even able to leave their homes. 

However that may be, the king, finding himself 
confined in a carriage where he could neither speak 
to me nor listen to me without witnesses, decided 
to keep silent. 

I immediately gave him my breviary, the only 
book I had on my person. 

He appeared to accept it with pleasure ; he even 
appeared to desire that I should point out to him 
the psalms most suitable to his condition; he 
recited them alternately with me. 

The gendarmes, without uttering a word, ap- 
peared both entranced and confounded at the 
calm piety of a monarch whom they, no doubt, 
had never before seen so closely. 

The trip lasted nearly two hours. 

All the streets were lined by several rows of 
citizens, some armed with pikes and others with 
guns. 

Besides, the carriage itself was surrounded by 
an imposing body of soldiers composed no doubt 
of the rankest to be found in Paris. 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 197 

To crown their precaution, there had been 
placed in front of the horses a multitude of drums 
so as to drown the noise of cries that might have 
been heard in favor of the king. 

But how could such be heard? No one ap- 
peared either at the doors or windows, and in the 
street could only be seen armed citizens who at 
least through weakness concurred in a crime which 
they perhaps detested in their hearts. 

The carriage thus reached the Place Louis XV 
amidst the greatest silence and stopped in the 
center of a large, empty space which had been 
left around the scaffold; this space was hedged 
with cannon; and beyond these, as far as the eye 
could see, was a multitude in arms. 

As soon as the king felt that the carriage had 
stopped he turned to me and whispered, "We 
have reached our destination, if I am not 
mistaken." 

One of the executioners immediately came to 
open the carriage door; but the king stopped them 
and resting his hand on my knee: 

"Gentlemen," said he to them, in the tone of a 
master, "I recommend Monsieur here, to you; 
take care that after my death no insult be offered 
him; I charge you to see to it." 



198 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

As the two men did not answer, the king was 
about to repeat his words in a louder tone ; but one 
of these interrupted him : 

"Yes, yes," said he, "we will take care of him; 
leave it to us." 

And I must add that these words were uttered 
in a tone that should have chilled me, if at such a 
moment it had been possible for me to think of 
myself. 

As soon as the king had alighted from his car- 
riage, three executioners surrounded him and 
attempted to take off his coat ; but he repulsed 
them with pride and took it off himself. 

He also loosened his collar and his shirt and 
arranged himself with his own hands. 

The executioners, whom the proud countenance 
of the king had disconcerted for a moment, then 
seemed to recover their audacity. They again 
surrounded him and tried to bind his hands. 

"What do you mean to do?" said the king to 
them, quickly withdrawing his hands. 

"Bind you," replied one of the executioners. 

"Bind me!" repeated the king in a tone of 
indignation. 

"No, I shall never consent to it. Do what you 



IN THE TEMPLE PRISON 199 

have been ordered to do, but you shall not bind 
me. Give up the project." 

The executioners insisted. They raised their 
voices and seemed as if they were about to call 
for help so as to do it by main force. 

This was the most heart-rending moment of this 
awful morning; a minute later and the best of 
kings received in the presence of his rebellious 
subjects an insult a thousand times worse than 
death, through the brutality which they seemed to 
put in it. 

His Majesty turned towards me. He looked 
straight in my eyes as if to ask for advice. 

Alas! it was impossible for me to give him any; 
at first I only replied by my silence, but as he 
continued to look at me : 

"Sire," said I to him with tears, "in this last 
outrage I only see one last trait of resemblance 
between Your Majesty and the God who is going 
to be your reward." 

At these words he raised his eyes to Heaven 
with an expression of pain which I could never 
describe. 

"Assuredly," said he to me, "nothing less than 
His example could make me bear such an affront." 



200 THE ROYAL FAMILY 

Then immediately turning towards the exe- 
cutioners : 

"Do what you will," said he to them; "I shall 
drain the cup to the dregs." 

The steps leading to the scaffold were straight 
and hard to climb. 

The king was obliged to lean on my arm. The 
difficulty with which he climbed made me fear for 
an instant that his courage was beginning to fail 
him; but how astonished I was when, having 
reached the last step, I saw him, one might say, 
run away from me, cross with a firm step the 
entire width of the scaffold, impose silence, by a 
single glance, to fifteen or twenty drums which 
were posted opposite him, and in a voice so strong 
that it must have been heard as far as the Pont- 
tournant, distinctly utter these ever-to-be-remem- 
bered words : 

"I die innocent of all the crimes imputed to me. 
I pardon the authors of my death and I pray 
God that the blood which you are going to spill 
will never fall on France. . . ." 



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